a heavy burden
by AL0LT0
Summary: heavies alive and out to get captain rex. only echo, chopper and the rest of there squad stand a chance against the force supercharged clone. a greater destiny awaits these troopers. the question is will they survive  to reach it?
1. Beginnings

**Hi this is my first fan fiction ever so I hop you like! The first section takes place after the episode rookies. The second and third section take place after the episode ARC Troopers.**

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As the transport ship flew away from the flaming rubble of Rishi outpost Echo couldn't help a feeling of foreboding in the pit of his stomach. As if someone or something was still watching them. He tried to ignore it.

_Nothing could have survived that blast_ he tried to tell himself.

Unfortunately something had. For as the transport ship jumped into hyperspace. Something broke the surface of the rubble. Bloody scared and horribly disfigured its eyes, which once reflected bravery and joy now radiated only hate, hate that it could not define, hate it hade never before known…

what had it known?

The creature howled in anger it did not understand, could not understand. his fragmented mind searching wildly for some tidbit of an explanation.

"I don't like your tone shiny."

_Who had said that? ... That man in blue and white!_ The creatures jumbled mind began to put together an irrational solution

_His fault,_

_Had to get him,_

_Had to make him pay for…_

Pay for what?

The creature began to search the ruble until it stumbles across something.

A body.

The confused being reaches out and pulled off the cracked white helmet. The face was twisted in pain and grief but he recognized it all to well.

"Me." the creator spoke softly, reaching out to touch the corps. Then stood abruptly. "He killed me." the wheals in this creature's jumbled mind began to turn.

_Got to get him, he killed me!_

But after a while the creature began to calm. Its mind becoming less a jumbled mess of instinct and more distinctly human, as its… _his_ mind began to rationalize… he realized something.

_Not me. _he decided _I'm alive._ He was now thoroughly confused.

_Brothers._

It hit him like the roof that had caved down on him just moments ago. Something bad had happened to the brothers and some how it was his fault. _The man in blue. The man in blue had to pay._

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Echo had decided not to become an ARC trooper.

Commander Cody's thought he was crazy, Captain Rex thought he was a fool and Fives… Fives just seemed to blame himself.

The day had come for Five's to ship out to ARC training, Echo had received his new unit assignments. Five's ship took of in less than an hour, but there was still time for one last confrontation.

"How could you refuse to become an ARC?" Five's demanded. They had, had this conversation, or rather argument many times in the past few weeks, and Echo wasn't looking forward to having it again.

"That was dominos dream, not mine, it wouldn't feel right without them." Echo explained carefully, Five's just got angrier at his brother.

"Domino squads dead! They're all dead! They would have wanted us to do this!" Five's shouted at him.

"I' sorry Five's." Echo answered simply.

"We were ordered to be ARC troopers!" Five's countered. Echo turned away and pretended to be reading his new barrack assignments. "I never thought I'd see the day when _you_ disobeyed orders!" and with that Five's was gone, off for his transport, his future, his life.

Echo sighed sadly if only Five's could understand. But how could he understand when Echo didn't understand himself? He'd never been one to go against orders or to think or act irrationally.

It all started when they had revisited Kamino, when he had seen Hevys old badge that he had given to 99.

Something changed that day.

He began having dreams. Strange dream. He had started thinking differently, acting differently. He found himself separating from the group and making jokes at the worst possible times, he found himself picking fights and going of on his own in battle. His mood swings had become so bad the captain himself took him aside for a talk. Which, as expected, did not go well.

Then Echo did something that made everyone worry, especially Fives. He stopped reading the rig manuals.

He didn't know why he stopped. The rig manual had always been present in Echo's life and just like that it was gone.

Kind of like domino squad had been gone. One minute it was a normal boring day on Rissi and the next... It was just him and Fives, the last of domino squad, of the men of the Rissi outpost.

At least that's what he used to think. The thin line between reality and his dreams was blurring more and more every day, he had the strangest feeling they- or, or at least- SOMETHING was out there somewhere… But then he'd snap back to reality

_They're gone._ He told himself. _They can't be alive_. Echo knew he was going insane. So he figured he'd just go with it.

That's why he was staying with the 501st, his insanity was telling him to and he wasn't about to argue.

Echo looked down at his knew assignments, he was unfamiliar with the unit, what little he'd heard about them was gossip. Their sergeant had gone rogue back on Christosis and sold his brothers to the separatists. They had been assigned a new sergeant, someone named Dark, but he had been killed in battle recently. Echo would be joining the squad as a regular trooper, one of the other men, a soldier by the name of Gus had been promoted to sergeant of the unit.

Echo knew Rex had arranged it that why. He could just picture the captain explaining to the general that- "in light of recent events he was not fit for a leadership role."

Since when had Echo started thinking like that? Since when had he referred to the captain as Rex?

He shook his head and picked up his bag. He started out to his knew barracks. _Your crazy remember. _he reminded himself. _Just go with it._

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Fives was sorry for yelling at Echo.

He knew his brother needed support not adversity. Ever since the beginning of the war Echo had always been kind of like an annoying little brother to him (even if they were the same age.) Constantly worried about the rig manual and following orders.

But Echo wasn't really the goody two shoes he led most to believe. There had been another side of him.

Echo had always been there for him and the others in a kid brother sort of way. When Five's and several other troopers had gotten caught filling the captains helmet with whip cream Echo had helpfully pointed out that no were in the rig manual did it state that it was not okay to fill your captains helmet with whiped dairy products.

And another time when they were caught blaring music a 3 AM Echo had explained that- since there was no beer, vodka, Corelian whisky, ale, exotic dancers, stripers or prostitutes there. It had not technically qualified as a party and therefore was not against regulation. He had concluded this speech by saying- "Sir I was wondering what is a prostitute? I couldn't find a definition for it in the rig manual index." The captain had turned bright red and sent them away with neither a punishment nor an answerer to Echo's question.

But ever since there mission on Kamino Echo had changed. He would wake up in the middle of the night screaming or in a cold sweat and he would refuse to tell the others what it was that scared him. He began having mood swings. In the past Echo was the last person to start a fight. But now… Fives shivered.

A week ago Echo had insisted they go out to a bar for some drinking, something else that wasn't like him. Echo had never had beer before.

But Fives and the others had thought it would be good to get away from the barracks and had agreed. The night ended when a twilek man had attempted to cut in on a dance Echo was having with a rather scantily clothed girl. In the end the bar tender had to call the man an ambulance and the clones, after pulling Echo off of him, had snuck out the back.

Fives shook his head, he knew his brother needed him now more than ever. But he had his own future to worry about, his own legacy to make. He climbed onto the ship with several others and took of for Kamino to begin his ARC training.

"Sorry Echo." he whispered "You're on your own this time."

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**Please review **


	2. chapter 2

**Hay! This is chapter 2 there will be references to star wars episode the hidden enemy so if you haven't seen it you might not want to read it spoils the who don it! Anyway hope you like!**

**P.S. special thanks to CaptainKale your review made me feel all worm and fuzzy inside!**

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Chopper sat on his bed stringing several new droid fingers onto his necklace. He didn't even bother to hide it any more. Every couple of seconds he'd glace up to see if Gus was still watching him. He was "take a holo-pic it will last longer," he instructed casually stringing another droid finger onto his necklace. Gus looked away. On the bunk above Choppers Jester was scrubbing his gun. He seemed determined to remove one particularly stubborn speck of dust. Sketch was on the bottom bunk of the bed next to him carefully doodling on a data pad he had purchased on there last leave to Coruscant Punch was taking a nap above him. Every now and again one of them would glance up and spare a suspicious glace at someone. Usually at Chopper or Jester but Sketch Gus and even the sleeping Punch got their fair share of looks to. That's the way it was with them lately, tension, habit and suspicion, ever since Slick betrayed them. The General had seen the change in there behavior and had attempted to get them to forget about it. The attempt had failed. So there they sat. Trust was failing especially between Chopper and Gus. _Not the best situation to be in with your new boss _Chopper thought to himself but he didn't care he had spent to long worrying about what other people thought of him. He wasn't going to worry any more.

Just then a trooper in well-decorated armor walked into the room went over to Darks old bed and began unpacking his bag. Gus got up and walked over to him "you must be that new trooper command sent us." he acknowledged.

"That's right names Echo what's yours." said the trooper not looking up from his bag.

"I'm Gus the sergeant of this unit." he looked slightly surprised at Echo's lack of formality, which was extremely uncommon in troopers who were new to a unit. He turned and went back to his bunk. Sketch was next to try.

"Well my names Sketch over there's Chopper and Jester and sleeping beauty up hear is Punch." he pointed to each of his brothers as he named them. Echo looked up from his bag.

"Nice to make your acquaintance." he said and turned back to his bag. This was followed by an extremely awkward silence.

"Well I think I'm goanna head to the mess." Chopper said standing up to stretch. "Any of you want to come."

"I will." Gus offered not wanting to let Chopper out of his sight. Gus had been suspicious of him ever since Christosis. "Echo why don't you finish unpacking and meet us there." Gus suggested.

"Yes sir." Echo sniped his entire mannerism seemed to change in that split second his back straitened and he saluted Gus his behavior was not unlike that of a shiny.

"Um… ok… come on boys." Gus said slightly taken aback by Echo sudden change in personality. Chopper and Gus left the room Sketch stood up on his bunk and shook Punches shoulder.

"Up brother!" he shouted Punch throw his pillow at him. Sketch tapped his foot impatiently then shouted even loader "get up! The generals are coming for a surprise inspection and the worst room has to scrub R2 units!"

"What!" Punch shouted in shocked he fell out of bed and landed on the floor… hard. He looked up at Sketch angrily. "Not funny." he said.

Sketch laughed, "Coulda fooled me. Now common I hear its taco day in the mess."

"Really!" Punch said grinning any remaining pain from his fall forgotten. "Than what are we waiting for!" the two took of after there brothers. Leaving only Jester and Echo behind. Jester gave his blaster one last scrub and jumped down of his bunk. He leaned his gun up agents the wall in its proper place and tucked his cleaning rag into one of his belt poaches he went to leave.

"Hay Echo." he said turning back.

"Ya?" Echo asked his posture was relaxed again and he smiled warmly.

"Welcome aboard it's always good to have another brother around. Don't let the others get to you there a little stiff lately but there trying." Jester explained trying to sound sincere.

"I don't doubt it… there trying I mean… thanks." Echo said it seemed like a weak reply but Jester accepted it he spun around and headed of to the mess.

As soon as he was gone Echo reached into his bag and pulled out a miniature halo-projector, he activated it. It was a simple one-frame shot of domino squad the day they graduated from the academy. Cut-up had each of his arms draped over a mans shoulder Heavy on the left Echo himself on the right. Cut-up was grinning ear to ear in that carefree way of his. Heavy was smiling like he'd never bin prouder of himself but his eyes still seemed to carry the wait of the world. Echo himself just looked smug like he'd know they would make it all along. Droid-bait and 5's were kneeling down in front of them Droid-bait smiling but looking apprehensive 5's just grinning holding up his hand with his fingers spread apart a gesture Echo realized that had multiple meanings. It was 5's name first of all but it was also the number of times they had tried and failed at the citadel court before finally seceding. It was the number of men in their unit and finally... the number of months it had bin since Rissi. Echo shivered and tucked the holo-projector away under his pillow he finished unpacking his bag and headed to meet his new unit at the mess. Halfway there he once again had the strangest feeling that they were still alive. But he shook it off before entering the mess hall.

_There all dead Echo _he told himself _any sane man could see that. But_ he argued to himself_ your not sane._

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**Well... what do you think! I'm not posting any more unless you review!**


	3. hevys hire

**Ello, peoples~ :D **

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The bar was an average one on this back water planet, several beer happy bounty hunters and drug addicts filled the room smoking their joints or doing their poisons. The bar tender sat cleaning his glasses.

A well built sturdy young man walked up to the bar, his face covered in stomach churning scars and burns which looked as though they were not completely healed. He wore a dark brown hooded rob with dark stains that looked suspiciously like blood.

He took a seat at the bar. "Give me a shot of your best," He said gruffly.

The bar tender obliged, sliding a glass of cheep corelian whisky towered the strange man.

Greeto, the bounty hunter sitting on his right, noticed a shiny silver cylinder attached to the mans belt as he adjusted his robe.

The Rodian immediately pulled his blaster leveling it on the stranger.

"We aren't to found of Jedi around here." his faint Roadian accent was clearly audible.

"Join the club." The man replied, he showed no concern for the deadly weapon pointed at him and calmly took a sip of his drink.

"I mean it." Greeto said coldly, jabbing his gun into the strangers' side.

The stranger could feel the Rodians anger and uncertainty, tangible in the smoky atmosphere of the bar.

H_e__ thinks I'm a Jedi._ The man mused. _Wont he be disappointed._

"Want to know how I did it?" he asked calmly taking a sip of the beer the bartender had placed before him.

"Did what?" came the reply.

He could sense the Rodian becoming more nervous, but he was far from killing level emotions.

_He thinks he can scare me off?_ The stranger laughed to himself.

"how I killed the guy I lifted this saber off of." He replied carefully balancing the silver cylinder on the end of his index finger.

Greeto became tense and the man sensed fear begin to drift among his emotions as well.

"It was quit simple really." He continued. "I just grabbed him, like this." he made a small clutching gesture with his hand.

Suddenly one of the drunken bounty hunters a few rows down was lifted out of his seat, the stranger could sense the evil coming from him, the hate, yes he would do quit nicely.

"Then I shot him like this." with lightning fast speed he wiped out a clone grade hand blaster and shot the bounty hunter straight through the chest, he let the lifeless body drop to the ground. "Sorry about the mess." he apologized throwing the bar tender several credits. The fear emanating from the Rodian spiked as he eyed the dead body.

Everyone else seemed to drunk to care.

"You're a Jedi." Greeto accused

"Greeto, Greeto, Greeto," the man said with a sigh. "You haven't been listening."

"How do you now my name!" Greetos anger and confusion spiked, temporarily overshadowing his fear.

"Simple," the man said finishing his drink. "I'm just that good."

Greeto suddenly found himself slammed up against the wall, an unknown force pressing down on his chest.

The stranger was standing now and he had activated his light saber, a sickening blood red.

The man noticed Greeto staring.

"Sith are so much easier to kill than people let on." He said nonchalantly. Gritos fear levels spiked as the force on his chest increased. He gasped for air. "I suppose I could kill _you _just as easily." the man seemed to ponder the thought. "I could squash you like a bug." he increased the force on the Rodians body, causing him to squirm.

He could clearly hear the Rodians thoughts. _I'm going to die._

The stranger smirked at that.

He released the pressure he was putting on the Rodian. And Greeto felt his feet meet the ground.

"I need transport of this rock." The man informed him. "I need to speak with Jaba the Hutt." He tossed a sack of cedits at the Rodian who was still breathing heavily. "You will get the rest when we arrive."

The bounty hunter opened the sack and fingered the credits to be sure they were real, he smiled up at the stranger who could clearly sense that the Rodian was not going to turn down the job. The man put away his light saber and looking at Greeto.

The Rodian shrugged not willing to turn down good business.

"Right this way." he spoke politely. "My ship is outside and I will transport you immediately to Jabas palace."

the two men left the bar. Passing the bar tender, who was moping up a puddle of blood. The stranger tossed him a few credits to pay for his drink as they left.

The bar tender nodded and continued moping.

"Do I at least get the pleasure of addressing you by name." Greeto asked his new employer.

The man smiled Darkly. "Hevy." he replied.

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**Review... i've been going through these chapters and fixing some grammar/spelling... god i used to be TERRIBLE.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Ok so hear it is enjoy!**

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Chopper sat on his bunk as he usually did, stringing battle droid fingers. They had recently taken part in a particularly costly battle and as always the droids had paid their dues for his brothers loses.

_You now there not gone._ He reminded himself. _If they were gone you wouldn't be here. _Chopper looked up from his droid necklace and stool a glance at the only other trooper currently in the room.

Echo had been with the unit for about 3 weeks and was already raising eyebrows. At the moment he was carefully scrubbing his weapon, with the same precision Jester always used. The strange part was that Echo hadn't started cleaning his weapon like that until about a week ago. Chopper had noticed the change and was slightly concerned by it. Not only had the trooper begun cleaning his weapon obsessively he had also started stammering in front of his CO's and cracking jokes wile under heavy fire both things Jester was known to do. Chopper had also noticed the trooper's violent mood swings. It was almost as though the kid had more than one voice up in his head.

Chopper knew he shouldn't pry if he did he could get caught and that would _not_ be good… All the same…

_Just one look couldn't hurt._ Chopper thought. _All I need is eye contact._

"Hay Echo." Chopper shouted across the room his brother looked up from his blaster and turned to him.

"Yes Chop…" Echo trailed of as he stared into Choppers eyes, which as he watched turned from the normal miss matched brown and light blue to a shared deep burning red.

Choppers lips turned up into a small grin as Echo's pupils dilated until his entire iris was consumed by the black. The troopers mouth hung open slightly and every muscle in his body relaxed.

"Good." Chopper whispered soothingly. "No struggling now this wont hurt a bit." He slowly ever so slowly began probing his brother's mind. What he found shocked him.

"God." he whispered even quieter than before. "You're a force sensitive to." Chopper found himself pulled deeper into the troopers mind. _An early bloomer._ He thought. _Doesn't even know what he's capable of._

Suddenly Chopper found himself yanked head first into an extremely violent memory. _No not a memory. _He realized. _a dream._

**A clocked figure was speaking over a communication system. 3 words changed the galaxy forever.**

**"Activate order 66." The figure instructed coldly. Chopper felt a sharp jolt of pain shoot through every molecule of his being. He saw before his eyes thousands fall dead. Jedi shot by their troops innocent civilians caught in the cross hairs. Guns smoking, blood dripping from lifeless bodies. But that wasn't even the worst of it.**

**Chopper felt time pass in the dream he saw clone troopers, some drunk on whisky or spirits others injecting themselves with threatening dosages of prescription pain killers and still others choosing a more permanent solution to there gilt. A blaster bolt to the temple was the most common of those **_**permanent solutions.**_

**Just when Chopper thought the pain couldn't get any worse he saw something, a weapon. He felt the worry and the pain of the soldier building it. He felt the anguish they all shared when they were forced to fire it.**

**A thousand voices cried out in pain and then… silenced.**

Chopper tore himself away from the dream he couldn't watch any more he couldn't bare to see it. He pulled himself out of Echo's consciousness so violently he barely managed to hold him in his trance. Chopper stared at the spaced out trooper for a long time.

"You see that every night?" he finally asked. It didn't matter Echo wouldn't remember any of this anyway. Chopper only wished _he_ wouldn't remember any of it.

Echo nodded slowly. "Your lucky," he whispered. "You missed the scary part." His voice was flat and unemotional as voices always were when speaking through the veil of control Chopper had so meticulously trained himself to use.

The scared trooper heard someone approaching the room. He carefully pulled himself out of Echo's mind his eyes returned to there normal miss matched brown and blue. Echo's recovery was slower his pupils taking several minutes to constrict back to normal size. During which time he continued to stare strait ahead of him.

"Hay guys what's up?" Punch asked grinning as he entered the room. He noticed the weird look on Echo's face and walked over to him "Echo?… hay Kamino to Echo come in." Echo blinked slowly in responses.

"What?" he asked looking around confused.

"You just totally spaced out or something," Punch informed him before jumping up onto his own bunk and settling down for a nice long in-armor nap. Echo looked around confused for a moment and then went back to polishing his gun, but after a few minuets he threw the rag down in disgust.

_When did this get so boring?_ He asked himself. Echo considered following Punches lead and getting some sleep but he new the dreams would be there as soon as he slipped into unconsciousness. He threw a glace at Chopper who was absent-mindedly playing with his droid fingers.

"Hay Chop you want to grab a bit to eat?" he asked suddenly. Chopper shrugged.

"Shore." The 2 troopers got up and walked out of the room headed off in the direction of the mess hall.

When they arrived the two retrieved their food and took a seat at one of the mess hall tables several troopers gave them a rotten looks picked up their grub and moved. Echo heard Chopper grumble something about. "Stupid officers." Before he began devouring his food. Echo pushed his own grub around on the plate.

_Stupid dreams._ He thought to himself. _I should be getting some sleep but noooo… I'm here in the mess getting dirty looks from my brothers._ Echo hated his dreams every night they came back not always the same but always ominous always unnerving. The past few weeks they hadn't been quit as bad and Echo had managed not to wake up screaming bloody murder but still, his nights were far from restful. _Why does being nuts have to be so hard?_ He wondered. Chopper cleared his thought. Cutting of Echo's train of thought

"So…" Chopper began awkwardly. "You seen the new Galactic Conflicts halo-film?" Echo shook his head.

"What's it about?" he asked. Chopper grinned before answering his question.

"A guy names Skuke Lywalker his buddy San Holo and his brass bikini wearing sister."

Echo raised his eyebrow. "I real should see this halo-film." Chopper gave him a devious smile.

"I got a recording of it on my communicator." He replied the two quickly finished their food and returned to the barracks, to watch as the beautiful brass-bikini-wearing Princess Skea strangled a giant slimy monster with a chain.

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**Please! Please! Please! Review!**


	5. Chapter 5

**all right i was really really careful with spelling and such this time and i reread it at least 5 times so if there is anything in the story that really jumps out at you as a problem tell me (please do not just say i need to work on my spelling and grammar its not gonna get any better than this)**

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"AAAAAAAA!" Gus was awoken to the sound of screaming. He jumped out of bed grabbed his blaster and hit the light switch. The screaming was coming from the other side of the room. Chopper, Jester, Sketch and Punch had already located the source of the noise.

"Echo! Echo wake up its just a dream!" Chopper shouted shaking the troopers shoulders.

"No, no, nooooooo" Echo screamed bolting up right on his bed. Gus felt an emotional wave of pain and sorrow smash ageist his mind. He hit his knees and screamed in agony. He fought to stay conscious a fight he was quickly losing.

The last thing Gus saw before he passed out was the rest of his brothers sprawled across the ground tearing at their heads, as if taring out there brains would make the pain go away.

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Gus came around slowly. It felt as though a thermal bomb had gone off inside his scull and no one bothered to pick up the pieces. He forced his eyes open and closed them again immediately, shielding them ageist the bright light. He heard something move next to him and felt someone pulling at his arm.

"Come on Sergeant wake up!" Gus forced his eyes open once again to see Punch leaning over him looking concerned. He forced himself to sit up. Sketch, Chopper and Jester stood near by. Gus looked around him at the spotless, blindingly White walls. Everything was so clean, so perfect, so… familiar.

"Are we on… Kamino?" he asked not quit believing it.

"I think so sir" Jester answered looking around.

"How did we get here?"

"Don't know." It was Sketch talking this time. Chopper stood silently looking worried.

"This is bad this is really, really bad," the scarred trooper said softly but not softly enough so the others didn't hear.

"Chopper what's going on?" Gus asked. He stood shacking off Punches assistance. "What did you do!" his voice was raw and accusing he stormed up to his brother and grabbed the front of his loss fitting fatigues.

"I didn't do squat!" Chopper replied defiantly knocking Gus's hand away.

"You know what's going on!" Gus accused. Chopper didn't make eye contact an admission of gilt in Gus's mind. He reached out to grab Chopper again but was stopped by the sound of blaster fire. The 5 men turned and ran down the long corridor, in the direction of the continual fire. It sounded as if a full-scale battle was taking place. A young clone probably in his 6th or 7th year of training ran to meet them.

"They're…" he stammered swallowing hard. "They're killing the younglings!"

The entire unit charged around the corner despite their younger brothers shouts of warning. The corridor opened up into a large hanger bay. What was their brought even Chopper to his knees.

Brothers killing brothers, the older more experienced men of the 501st sending continual arrays of blaster fire at the cadets. Who could only run and try to use what weapons they could find to defend themselves.

Gus chocked when he saw one of the 501st, one of his_ friends._ Take out a viro-blade and stab a young brother (he couldn't have been more than a 3) in the back. The trooper stumbled staring at the lifeless body, and without warning took the viro-blade and stabbed it into his own heart. The normally bright white sealing floor and walls of the hanger were covered in the blood of brothers and burn marks from blasters. The sound of a thousand brothers crying in agony filled their ears.

"Echo!" Chopper shouted suddenly "Echo it's just a dream you have to wake up! Echo!"

Gus felt his eyes snap open. He was lying on the floor, the bloody scene on Kamino no more than a distant memory. Chopper was on top of him in a second. Pining him to the ground.

"Get off of me you stinkin'…" he fell silent when he caught a glimpse of Choppers eyes. Which had some how turned a bloody red.

"Chopper what are you doing!" Sketch shouted trying to pull Chopper off of the sergeant. The scarred trooper was on him in an instant. And the blood red eyes meet Sketches as well. Punch was next and then Jester.

Chopper gritted his teeth in pain as he felt the weight of there minds under his._ Got to focus. _He thought bitterly. _Can't make them forget. Won't work, too much there. Maybe…_ Chopper did a mental swipe of there consciousness.

_Just a dream, _he forced the thought on his brothers, _just a dream nothing more_. He ground his teeth together as they pushed harder to escape his control. _Just a dream _he insisted as they fought him. _JUST A DREAM! _He screamed at them through the force.

He felt them give in to the suggestion and collapse back down into unconsciousness. He let himself drop out of there minds. Instead of carefully back tracking as he usually did. Chopper was on his knees. He looked up at Echo who was staring at him from his bunk eyes wide with fright and confusion. Chopper held up his index finger.

"Tomorrow" he said flatly. Then fell unconscious from the effort of the endeavored.

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Echo stared at his unconscious brothers lying on the floor and slowly got up out of bed.

_What the hell just happened? _He wondered to himself as he slowly began dragging his brothers back to there beds. He grunted heavily as he hoisted Punch up into his top bunk.

"Man brother what have you been eating?" he asked the unconscious trooper. There was no answer of coarse. Echo turned to Choppers body and slowly lifted him to his bunk.

"_How_ did you do that?" he asked the unconscious man. "Hell _what _did you do?" but as with Punch there was no replied. Echo sighed and stumbled back over to his own bed. _What's happening?_ He thought desperately.

Echo flopped down on his bunk thoroughly exhausted. He could deal with the nightmares if they came back. He wouldn't let… whatever just happened happen again.

_What's happening to me?_ He wondered once more but was to tired to come up with an answer.

As he drifted of to sleep Echo experienced a new dream. Well not so much a dream but a sensation. It was one he knew well, one every clone clung to no matter what.

"Hope…" he mumbled before falling into blessedly, uneventful sleep.

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**so what do you think? next chapter Echo starts getting answers. please read and review any suggestions you may have are appreciated. If you give me an idea and i use it i'll be shore to give credit were credit is do. also in case you didn't know what they saw was the invasion of kamino. **


	6. Chapter 6

**Ok so hears chapter 6. It was kinda hard to write but I managed and I must say I'm proud of how it turned out. Hop you agree!**

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Chopper woke up the next morning and blinked the sleep out of his eyes. Then the pain hit him. It was a splitting, merciless migraine that made him believe a light saber to the left temple would be less painful. Chopper had little experience with alcohol. But the pain reminded him of a particularly bad hangover, only a thousand times magnified. He groaned deeply and rolled over in bed, the change of position not helping the experience at all.

_All right. _He decided. _I am NEVER trying that again. Whoever said 'if you could control one you can control a thousand' should be shot. I could barley control 4! And- ow!_ He winced in pain, as his head throbbed. _Ok no more thinking. Thinking is bad._

After several minutes Chopper realized someone was staring at him. Across the room Echo, wearing his full body armor, sat on his bunk looking at the scarred trooper expectantly. Chopper groaned and forced himself to sit up. He glared at Echo.

"Give me a minute to get ready." He said and went to stand wincing again as his brain protested strongly. Echo noticed.

"I'll go to the med bay and see if I can grab you some pain killers." He offered standing to go. Chopper nodded.

"Don't let anyone see you." He looked at the other bunks were there brothers were sleeping peacefully. "And hurry. They'll be waking up soon, and I want to be out of here by then. Best to let them sort their heads out on their own." If their reaction to Choppers force suggestion was anything even _remotely close_ to his. He did not want to be around when they woke up.

* * *

Echo returned about 15 minutes later to find Chopper showered and strapping his armor on. Echo offered up the bottle of prescription painkillers he had swiped when the medical droid wasn't looking. Chopper smiled in thanks, swallowed 3, and tucked the bottle into one of his belt pouches for later. He finished strapping on his armor and stood.

"Well no time like the present." Chopper said with a sigh. He led Echo out of the barracks and down the hall.

They got on the turbo lift, which took them to a long corridor in the inner workings of the Resolute. Chopper lead the way into a storage area that looked like it hadn't been touched in months. At least judging from the layer of dist that covered almost everything.

Chopper jumped up onto one of the dusty crates and sate there, cross-legged. Echo jumped up onto another crate and stared at him expectantly. After several moments of silence Chopper spoke.

"Ok so what do you want to know?" He asked the younger trooper. Echo was brimming with questions but he wasn't shore if it was safe to ask them. He looked around nervously. Chopper laughed.

"Don't worry about it. No one comes down here. And the walls are pretty much sound proof so it's not like anyone's goanna hear us talking."

"How did you do it!" Echo blurted. Chopper raised his eyebrow.

"Your goanna have to be more specific kid."

"Last night! How did you do it? You know the red eyed, trance like, make them faint hocus-pocus?" Chopper chucked. But then looked stern. He folded his arms over his chest.

"Lets be strait forward about this. I'm force sensitive." He said matter-of-factly. It took Chopper a moment to realize the younger clone had fainted.

"Echo… hay wake up … don't make me come in there!" Echo slowly came to. He slapped Choppers hand, which was being waved in close proximity to his face. Chopper laughed.

"Man if I knew you were goanna react like that I never would have agreed to talk to you!" he said with a smile. Echo glared at him. "All right all right." Chopper said holding his hands up in surrender. "All serious, I swear." Echo eyed the scarred clone trooper wearily and rubbed his temples.

"Man and I thought I was crazy." Echo whispered. "You honestly think you're a force sensitive?" it was Choppers turn to glare.

"I don't _think_ I'm force sensitive, I _know_ I'm force sensitive," Chopper replied indignantly.

"But that's impossible, were clones!" Echo countered.

"Lots of clones are force sensitive." Chopper replied.

"Name one!" Echo demanded.

"You got an active duty roster for the 666th?" Chopper asked. "Cause almost every clone in that battalion if a force sensitive." Echo bit his lower lip.

"All right." he finally said. "If your force sensitive prove it." He looked around the room and pointed to an empty metal box. "Levitate that crate."

Chopper sighed and shook his head in exasperation. "I'm not that kind of force sensitive!" Echo raised his eyebrow. And Chopper pinched the bridge of his nose in an attempt to fight the returning headache. "How to explain this…" he mumbled then looked up. "Clones… interact with the force in a different way than most species." Echo was silent so Chopper continued. "You see instead of just reading minds and levitating stuff the way Jedi do. we're more… specialized."

"Specialized?" Echo asked skeptically.

"Yes." Chopper replied ignoring Echo's tone of voice. "Take me for example I'm… well I…" He pinched the bridge of his nose again. "I can go into peoples heads make them think or do whatever I want."

"Kind of like those Jedi force suggestions?" Echo offered.

"No, no not really." Chopper said shaking his head. "You see when a Jedi does that there just making you do something you don't want to do. I make you_want _to do it."

"What do you mean?" Echo asked no longer looking skeptical.

"I mean… well it's like last night with the others. I didn't just make them _act _like they thought it was a dream. I made them _believe _it was a dream." Echo was frowning now deep in thought.

"Ok let's say in some crazy, misguided, proof of my insanity way, I believe you. I still don't understand what happened last night. I mean it was like you guys _saw_ my dream." Chopper sighed.

"There's no easy way to explain this," he mumbled. "You're a force sensitive to."

"Ok now I_ know_ you're insane."

"Don't believe me! Than explain your nightmares!" Echo froze.

"That was a one time…"

"Liar!" Chopper accused. "And even if it was a one time thing normal people don't project there nightmares on others like some frickin' interactive home holo-vid!" Echo was quiet for a moment.

"Ok so I have nightmares… _allot. _that doesn't mean… I mean I'm not…o' force." He froze "god I did not just use that expression!"

"Echo calm down." Chopper instructed smoothly. Echo fell silent. "I'll talk you listen. K?" Echo nodded slowly. Chopper sighed.

"Ok here's how it works." He began to explain. "Like I said before clones are a lot more specialized in the force than most other life forms. We interact with it as individuals, instead of all having the same limitations. Some clones are more powerful than others; some have easier times mastering what they can do. Everyone is different. There are several main groups clone force-sensitives can be put into."

Chopper took a deep breath before continuing. "First there are elementals, who can control different aspects of nature Animals, fire you get the picture. Second we have trackers, which means the force has increased one or more of their natural scenes. Third is physicals basic data-comic powers accelerated strength, speed, telekinesis stuff like that. Fourth is the odds and ends category, which is just about anything that can't be grouped among the others. I've seen everything from making stuff blow up to fazing through walls. Finally we have physics, which is the category you and I fall into. It means we operate on a mental playing field. It varies from simple hypnotic suggestion, to hallucinations. Anything that affects the mind." Echo scrunched his nose.

"You realize this all sounds like something you got out of a cheep halo-film right?" he asked his brother. Chopper sighed and looked tired.

"That's what I said when I first heard about all this, but its true." he replied. There was a moment of silence between the two clones.

"All right so maybe I'm crazy enough to believe you." Echo finally said. "How do I fit into all this?" Chopper smiled at his younger brother making the scars around his eye crinkle.

"You brother seem to have excellent foresight."

"Meaning…" Echo asked impatiently.

"You see the future." Chopper translated. Echo gasped softly.

"No" he whispered. "No, no, no! You're lying! This is all some sick joke you guys are playing on me for freaking out last night! Any minute now Punch is goanna jump out with a holo-cam and shout 'got ya!'" Echo was ranting now. "There just dreams that's all. It's not really goanna happen. That's stuff _cant _happen!"

"Echo get a grip!" Chopper shouted grabbing his brother's shoulders. Echo stared strait at him but his eyes were unseeing. The younger trooper screamed as if the devil were tearing out his longs and fought to get away from him. Chopper forced Echo to look him in the eye.

The younger mans pupils dilated but he continued to scream both physically and mentally. Chopper found himself once again being pulled deep into the trooper's subconscious. But this time it wasn't a dream. It wasn't even an emotion. It was more like a desire. A desire to kill, to destroy everything that stood in his way of total control, Evil and hatred seemed to bounce off the wall of Echo's scull trying to burrow there way into his consciousness. Chopper felt Echo fighting not only him but the feelings as well. He forced himself out of the younger mans mind and fell back against several crates piled behind him. Echo curled up in a feeble position and began to cry softly biting down on his gloved fist in an attempt to muffle the sound.

"So that's what you meant by the scary part." Chopper said his word barley a whisper. Echo nodded feebly.

"It's the one that always comes back." He whispered. "It's the worst. The others come and go but that one always comes back." He shook more violently. Hot tears streaming down his face. "No one gets it." He whispered softly. "Not cody not Rex not even 5's. O they tried to understand but in the end they just figured I cracked under the pressure. That I couldn't handle the war." Chopper placed a reassuring hand on his brother's shoulder.

"I understand." Chopper whispered. "I went through the exact same thing when my powers showed up. Hell I felt like that_ before _my powers showed up." Echo looked up at him wiping the tears from his face. "Life's hard kid." Chopper whispered. "But we carry on. Just think of this as a new mountain to climb."

"A lot of people are goanna die." Echo whispered.

"I know kid." Chopper replied. "I know. But there's always hope you got to believe that." Echo nodded quietly. He gave Chopper a watery smile.

"Aren't you feeling philosophical today," he joked half-heartedly. Chopper gave him another scar crinkling grin.

"Glad your feeling better enough to mock Me." he said jokingly. Chopper glanced at his wrist com. "holy shaak! We were supposed to be on the bridge 5 minutes ago!" he looked at Echo. "You all right?" he asked. The younger man nodded and wiped the rest of the tears out of his eyes before jamming his helmet on his head. The two troopers hurried off in the direction of the bridge.

"Tell anyone I cried and I'll saw off your shebs." Echo informed Chopper as they neared the bridge. Chopper raised his eyebrow.

"Your threatening a guy who can make you spend the rest of your life thinking you're a voorpak?" Chopper asked skeptically.

"Good point." Echo replied. "But if you do that then I wouldn't be able to tell you about the dream I had last week involving you and a certain Pantorans senator." Choppers eyes widened.

"What's that supposed to mean?" he asked eyeing his brother up and down.

"Lets just say… your goanna need your shebs." Echo replied smugly. Before Chopper could think of a way to reply to that they arrived at the bridge. There conversation was cut short by the sight of Captain Rex, General Skywalker, and Commander Tano arguing in front of about half a dozen clone troopers.

"Well this is going to be interesting." Chopper muttered at he and Echo joined the crowd gathered around the three bickering officers.

* * *

**Hugh… turned out a lot longer than I thought it would. O well I hope you liked it, please, please, please review! I hope choppers explanation of clone force sensitivity didn't turn out to cheese. Once again any suggestions are appreciated. (And if there is anything specifically wrong with my grammar please tell me I reread this a lot and was extremely careful when righting it but if there is any problems I want to fix them.)**


	7. Chapter 7

_**Hay, remember Heavy? Well he's baaaaaaack! Pulse Jaba's in this chapter! And who doesn't love Jaba? (Ok he's a piggish 2-faced slim ball but you still got to love him!) Well… what are you waiting for read on!**_

_**P.S. everything that's bolded in the story is hutt speak.**_

* * *

Jaba's palace was a breading ground for bounty hunters, prostitutes and anyone looking to make a quick buck. Not that Jaba ever really let them keep their money. If you weren't useful to him you were dead, the hutt didn't like loose ends. Greeto ushered his employer into what can only be described as Jaba's throne room. The Hutt was sitting at the head of the room on a raised podium; a beautiful twilek woman was stood near by, feeding the galactic gangster a very unfortunate paddy frog. Greeto eyed the man he had brought with him. The name he was given, Heavy, was most likely false especially considering he had refused to provide a last name. Heavy watched the Hutt eat with a look of disgust causing his grotesquely fresh looking scars to wrinkled and move in a sickening way. Greeto turned his attention to Jaba.

"Esteemed master Jaba this man requests an audience with you." Greeto informed the hutt bowing deeply. Heavy's scars cricked as if he were raising his left eyebrow, which had been completely singed off.

"**Haba su bi ba" **

"The great Jaba wishes for this man to identify himself." The protocol droid informed them.

"My name is Heavy I desire an audience with one of your bounty hunters a Clawdite named Tendra Wren. " he pulled out several credits and flashes them in front of the Hutt's meaty face.

"**Jib SA raja" **Jaba ordered.

The Twileks face shifted and mashed like putty. Her head tails disappeared and in seconds a clawdite woman stood were the twilek had been.

"Yes master Jaba." She said bowing to him and turning to Heavy. "What is it you wish to discus?" She asked eyeing the golden credits still in his hand. Heavy leaned in close to her face.

"How many people have you killed?" he asked his voice deathly cold.

"I lost track a long time ago." Tendra replied as if she were discussing the weather rather than her body count. A dark grin spread across Heavy face his scars cricking grotesquely.

"Good." He whispered leaning down to her ear. "Than I wont feel guilty about doing this." Tendra gasped and looked down at her stomach to see a blood red light saber jabbing directly through it. The entire room was deathly silent. Heavy breathed in as if he were sucking the life out of her body. The red blade was deactivated and the Clawdites lifeless body hit the floor. Heavy breathed out and smiled wider causing the stress to ripple throughout his face. He tossed the credits at Jaba's feet.

"Thank you sir." He said coldly turning to leave. Two of Jaba's guards ran up to him and pointed their weapons at him.

"**Jiju ma rija su ma jasu ma SA."**

"Did you really think you could leave this world after killing one of my bounty hunters?" The droid translated.

"Well these di'kut's certainly aren't going to stop me." Heavy replied motioning to the guards.

"**Ha ma raj Jia JA ma SA?"**

"Why were you foolish enough to come here and kill her in a room full of deadly bounty hunters?" came the automatic translation. Heavy looked around and shrugged.

"I don't think they mind me eliminating the competition." He replied smugly.

"**Gar a ji ju sarlacc."**

"The esteemed Jaba desires an explanation as to why you killed his bounty hunter. Before he feeds you to his sarlacc." The droid translated loyally.

"Watch and learn." Heavy replied with a smile. His scared face shifted and blurred like putty changing shape, his skin tone darkened to a reptilian green and his body seemed to decrease in height. "Her power is my power." Heavy said but it was no longer his voice it was Greeto's. Everyone in the room stared in shock at the now Rodian man. After remaining in the new form for several minutes Heavy's face shifted and changed back to its previous scared form. He went once again to leave but was again stopped by the guards.

"**Ja bi jam ruj JA."**

"You can not escape." The droid translated. Heavy looked annoyed.

"Ne shab'rud'ni." He said to the guards. They shifted uncomfortably and eyed the light saber on Heavy's belt. They had clearly heard the Mandalorian warning before.

"**Gad Ma rig jar jet hue."**

"A thousand credits to the man who presents lord Jaba with this fool's head." every bounty hunter in the room was up in seconds.

With speed that no one knew possible Heavy brandished his light saber and was deflecting lazar bolts. Many of the bounty hunters found themselves shot with there own blasts. Heavy cut down one of the guards and charged out of Jaba's throne room, several bounty hunters in hot pursuit.

Heavy disappeared around a corner and the bounty hunters followed. But when the group rounded the corner he was no were to be seen. The slightly drunk bounty hunters charged forward hoping to find him first and collect the 1000 credits.

Greeto was taking part in the chase when he suddenly found himself being pull into one of the side halls. A clone grad pistol was pressed to his temple.

"Remember that contract we discussed on the flight here?" Heavy asked not moving the gun.

"Yes." Greeto replied nervously. _Lord I hate force sensitives. _He thought.

"Well the offer still stands."

"Do I have much of a chose?" Greeto asked wearily. Heavy pulled his gun away from the other mans temple.

"Not really." He said holstering the blaster. "Now come on." Heavy took off down the side corridor they were standing in, not so much as looking back to see if Greeto was following him. The Rodian sighed and took off after the scarred human.

_If the job he mentioned is worth half the figure he said it's worth. I'll be bossing Jaba around. _Greeto thought running after his new partner. The 2 men darted down corridor after corridor finally finding there way out a back entrance.

Greeto gasped as the dry desert air hit his longs. Rodians weren't made for this kind of climate. But he didn't have time for wallowing in self-pity over the fact that his species was made to survive swap worlds. Heavy had already gained entry to one of Jaba's transport ships, a sleek top of the line YT-1300. Greeto ran up the boarding dock only moments before the ship took off. Greeto hurried to the cockpit and found Heavy piloting the ship.

"Are you crazy?" Greeto shouted. "Jaba has trackers in all of his ships!" Heavy pointed to a fist-sized hunk of metal that looked like someone decided to use it as a personal punching bag.

"Taken care of." He informed the Rodian wile pressing down on several of the control panels buttons. "O and you might want to take a seat. These things are top of the line but their jump to hyperspace can be a little bumpy."

"You're going to-!" Greeto's sentence was cut off when he got thrown into the back wall of the cramped cockpit.

"I warned ya." Heavy said over his shoulder as the rodian tried to untangle his limbs.

"No good force sensitive Jactna brained…" Heavy left his new partner to his mumbling and focused his attention on the hyperspace before him. He watched as thousands of stars and planets passed them by.

"I'm coming for you Rex." Heavy whispered as Greeto finally managed to buckle himself into the copilot seat. "And when I get my hands on you your goanna be sorry." However there was still one problem with Heavy's near flawless plan... He still couldn't remember what exactly Rex had _done_ to deserve revenge. _Details. _Heavy thought brushing the worry away. _They'll be the death of me yet._

* * *

_**Me: *Evil Grin* and so heavy is after rex and he's got Greeto in on it! What will become of everyone's favorite clone captain?**_

_**Paint: I thought I was everyone's favorite clone captain.**_

_**Me: well you're my favorite clone captain but since I maid you up and you aren't even in this story it doesn't count. **_

_**Paint: fine. *Looks upset* so what's with all that gibberish jabas was saying. It doesn't really mean anything.**_

_**Me: I mad it up! They don't exactly have a huttese translator on the Internet you know!**_

_**Paint: and the fact that you used a rodian expletive as a bad name is…**_

_**Me: I couldn't find any rodian bad names all right! Shish why are you in such a bad mood?**_

_**Paint: cause you haven't updated any of the fics I'm in**_

_**Me: I will soon! Besides you're the captain of the 666**__**th**__** you'll be in other fics!**_

_**Paint: *grumbles* fine *turns to audience*. Please review maybe she'll put me in this fic if you do!**_

_**Me: and if you can figure out how the YT-1300 ties in to the original trilogy I'll give you a free cookie!**_


	8. Chapter 8

**Hay there! Sorry about the little delay but something called school has gotten in the way lately. Here's a couple of translations your going to need for this chapter…**

**Shabla**** - screwed up (****offensive****)**

**Ori'buyce, kih'kovid.**** - "All helmet, no head." (Mandalorian insult for someone with an overdeveloped sense of authority.)**

**Copaani mirshmure'cye, vod?**** - Are you looking for a smack in the face, mate?**

**Udesii**** - "calm down", "take it easy"**

**Hut'uun= a coward, the worst possible thing you can call a mandalorian.**

** Aruetii= outsider or traitor **

**Phwoar= expletive**

* * *

"Chopper were are you?" Echo called. "We're supposed to be guarding the base." The base in question was the republics station on some backwater swamp planet Echo didn't care to remember the name of.

"Come on Chopper this isent funny any more." The scarred trooper had disappeared into the undergrowth about ten minutes before. Shouting something about an experiment.

"Chopper were…" Echo voice was cut off as his brother jumped out of the underbrush and tackled him to the ground. Both men landed in a near by mud puddle spattering there white armor with the brown muck.

"Phwoar Chopper! what the heck are you doing?" Echo shouted pushing Chopper off of him.

"Well I was trying to see if I could trigger your foresight." Chopper explained.

"A little warning would have been nice." Echo complained rubbing his chin were a decent sized bruise was beginning to form.

"It would have wouldn't it?" Chopper sighed mockingly. Echo pulled himself up out of the mud puddle. Suddenly his mind caught a fleeting image of once again being talked into the dirt. Chopper lunged at him but the trooper stepped out of the way just in time thanks to the early warning. Chopper landed face first in another pile of dirt. Echo leaned down to his brother.

"Well looks like it worked." He said mockingly. Chopper scowled and reached up to pull his brother into the mud, this time catching Echo off guard.

By the time Jesse and Hardcase showed up to take there turn on watch both troopers were covered from helmet to boot in mud.

* * *

Gus didn't care what anyone said he wasn't paranoid. He was suspicious yes but paranoid no.

_I don't know whom I can trust. That's all._ He thought_. Is that paranoia? I think not._ Gus glanced up from his data pad as the barracks door slide open revealing Chopper and Echo. Both covered from head to toe in mud and grim. Echo had a small welt forming on the tip of his chin. And Chopper was glairing at him.

"What happened to you two?" Jester asked looking up from polishing his gun. Chopper jabbed his thumb in the other trooper's direction.

"Ask mister smart shebs over there." He said walking over to his bunk. All the wile trying to remove peaces of his mud caked armor.

"Hay don't look at me." Echo said defensively. "It was all your idea." Sketch who was drawing vigorously on his own data pad scowled at them.

"Stop moving. I'm trying to draw here." His complaints were rewarded by a splash of mud, which landed smack dab in-between his eyes. Everyone in the room laughed, except Gus who was quiet. "O ha, ha." Sketch said, "Suddenly you're all comedians."

"What _exactly _were you two doing?" Gus asked an edge of suspicion in his voice. He didn't trust Chopper. He never had. Not because he was paranoid but because he was realistic. If Chopper had been keeping his droid fingers a secret chances were he had other secrets as well.

"None of your phwoar business." Chopper replied not seeming to appreciate Gus's tone.

"Considering I'm your _sergeant_ I'd say it is my business." Gus replied coldly standing from his bunk in an attempt to seem more authoritative. _I am his sergeant now; he has to learn to respect me._

"Ori'buyce, kih'kovid." Chopper mumbled tugging off his mud covered chest plate.

"What did you say to me?" Gus asked angrily stepping closer to his brother. Chopper turned around and looked the sergeant dead in the eyes his discolored blue yellow one despite its sightlessness held Guses with deathly persistence.

"I said 'all helmet no head' or are you so dense you cant understand basic mandalorian?" By now both men's blood was boiling.

"Copaani mirshmure'cye, vod?" Gus asked his voice filled with warning.

"Try it you Hut'uun!" Chopper dared him.

Gus didn't realize what he was doing. He was blinded by anger and didn't think about the consequences of his actions. Chopper never saw the fist coming his way.

Chopper stumbled back griping his right eye. He howled. The pain of the impact radiated across his skin and tortured the previously damaged tissue surrounding his right eye. With the old pain came many unwanted memories. A cold metal operating table beneath him, blinding white surgical lights, Metallic fingers scraping across his flesh Chopper found himself fighting to keep his powers in check, as his mind attempted to go on auto pilot and tear Guses psychi apart. Chopper gave in and was about to turn his deadly gaze on Gus when he felt a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

"Udesii Chopper." The scarred trooper turned to the man at his side and forced himself to relax. It was Jester. Chopper looked back to were Gus had been standing. Both Echo and Punch were holding the sergeant back. Sketch stood in front of him.

"Sir that was a cheep shot and you know it." Sketch said his voice raw and accusing. Gus hung his head.

"Its all right." Chopper said coldly his voice was incredible steady despite the horrifying memories playing themselves over and over in his mind. "Guess our fearless leader forgot that I'm _deficient_." He spat out the final word as if it put a bad taste in his mouth.

Gus shook off the two troopers holding him. He felt terrible about taking advantage of Choppers blind side, Sketch was right it was a cheep shot no mater what the trooper might be hiding.

"I'll take Chopper down to the med bay." Echo offered stepping forward. Choppers eyes narrowed immediately.

"I'm not going to see any shabla medic droid." He said sharply. The torturous memories of metallic fingers scraping across his skin still fresh in his mind.

"No droids, promise." Echo assured him. "We'll just go get an ice pack from Kix. Ok?" Chopper nodded and mumbled a few choice swear words under his breath before following Echo out of the barracks.

When the two were gone Sketch turned to Jester and Punch.

"Why don't you guys head down to the guard station your shift starts soon." He suggested. The two troopers nodded even though their shift didn't start for another half hour both men were eager to escape the tension of the room. They hurried out leaving Gus and Sketch alone in the sleeping quarters.

Both men stood in silence for several minutes. In some ways the quiet was worse than anything Sketch could have said to his sergeant at that moment.

"Gus." Sketch said finally, dropping rank. "Chopper can be a hot head at times but not even he deserved that."

"I know." Gus grumbled. Looking at the floor. He felt like a kid that had just disappointed his father.

"Than why would you do it?" Sketch asked. "Your or sergeant now. You have to set the example. Men can only be as good as the one who leads them." His words stung like a whip across Gus's back.

"Which is why the rest of the battalion treats us like Shabla meat cans." Gus grumbled.

"Ya see." Sketch said his voice calm but accusing. "That's your problem. You can't just let something go. You think every time someone steps out of line their goanna betray us to the sepies." Gus stayed quiet.

Not for the first time Gus wondered why it hadn't been Sketch to get the promotion to sergeant. After Slicks betrayal it was Sketch who stepped up as the unofficial leader of the unit. Even when Dark was assigned to replace slick Sketch had still bin somewhat of a second in command. He was the levelheaded one; he was the one who knew how to set an example. Just like Slick… Gus immediately regretted that thought. Sketch wasn't like Slick, Slick was a traitor an aruetii. Sketch was loyal, respectable and one of the only people Gus knew he could completely trust. But then an even more terrifying thought struck him.

_I trusted Slick like that._ Gus was suddenly weary of the man in front of him. It must have shown because Sketches eyes narrowed.

"Be careful Gus. Remember you have a responsibility to this unit. You can't let your personal feelings cloud your judgment." He gave the sergeant a hard look. "The last thing this unit needs is another man getting thrown in the brig." Gus swallowed hard. Just then his COM link beeped saving Gus from any further scrutiny from his brother.

"Sergeant Gus, General Skywalker wishes to see you in the briefing room." Came a clone troopers voice over the COM link. "He says it's about the next mission." Gus lifted his wrist to speak into the COM.

"On my way." he replied. Sketch gave Gus one last hard look before he picked up his drawing pad and sat down on his bunk. Gus didn't say anything as he left the barracks.

* * *

Kix handed Chopper a cool pack and received a mumbled thank you before the scarred trooper pressed it to his bruising eye.

"Get in a fight again Chopper?" Kix asked nonchalantly.

"No." Chopper lied. Kix turned to Echo for an explanation.

"He…" Echo began. "Bumped into a wall." Chopper scowled but remained silent.

"_Right._" Kix said sarcastically clearly not believing it. "And I supposed the wall also pushed you to into the mud and then proceeded to steal peaces of your armor." He Eyed both mud soaked troopers. Chopper snorted.

"Yep pretty much." He said matter-of-factly. Kix rolled his eyes and Echo shifted uneasily.

"You wouldn't mind not mentioning this to Rex would you?" the Trooper asked.

Kix shook his head. "Echo you now that I'm required to report any none combat related injury's to the captain."

"Come on Kix." Echo said pleadingly. "Remember all the times I covered for you way back when?" Kix _did_ remember. It was one of the reasons he didn't like it when Echo was reassigned to Slicks unit…

_No that isn't right. _He thought._ It's Gus's squad now_. All the same he didn't think Echo should be around them. Maybe they weren't traitors but Slick shore as anything was, and if anyone followed in his footsteps it would be them. Especially Chopper... he glanced at the scarred trooper sitting on the edge of the poker table.

"All right." Kix finally sighed. "But only because I owe you."

"Thanks Kix!" Echo said gratefully. Chopper mumbled in agreement and the two troopers left before the medic could change his mind.

Outside the tent Chopper turned to Echo.

"Thanks." He grunted clearly not used to having to say thank you. "I own you one."

"No problem." Echo said waving it off. "The way I look at it _I'm _the one who own _you_."Echo gave his brother a serious look. "Besides if I hadn't called in that favor you probably would have tried to wipe his memory or something."

"I wouldn't have _tried_ I would have _succeeded_." Chopper replied indignantly. Echo rolled his eyes.

"whatever." He said waving it off. Chopper smacked the back of Echos head.

"Abuse!" Echo accused.

"whatever." Chopper said mockingly. "Come on were going to train some more. You should have seen that coming."

* * *

**Please, please, please review! O and I have 2 questions for you o so loyal readers. First do you think I should incorporate how Chopper got his scars/realized his force sensitivity in this story or should I make a branch off for that? At the moment I'm leaning towards branch off but I want the readers opinion. Second would any of you be interested in a branch off story about what happened to Heavy between Rissi and when he meets up with Greeto? I have some ideas for that so if enough people are interested I'll right one. So like I said before please review!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Hello readers! Sorry about the wait but for some reason my brain just doesn't want to right this in order! I hop you guys like this chapter and please warn me if its boring.**

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* * *

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"Left punch, right jab, round house kick, haymaker-oomph!" Echo's voice was cut short as Chopper landed a solid punch to his lower abdomen.

"You're getting better at that." Chopper commented offering his brother a hand. Echo took it and was easily pulled to his feet. "Now do it again." Echo groaned.

"Come on Chop all we ever do is train _me_!" He complained. "When's it _your_ turn?"

"I don't need training." Chopper replied smugly. Echo raised an eyebrow.

"Well then prove it," he challenged. Choppers smile fell.

"All right." He said walking past Echo heading directly for the storage room door. "I will."

"Wait… what?" Echo nearly shouted running to catch up to his brother.

"You heard me. I'm going to prove it." Chopper hit the button to open the turbo lift doors and stepped in. Echo scampered in after him.

"And how exactly do you plan to do that?" Echo asked nervously. He had seen that look in Choppers eyes several times in the weeks he had known him and it never meant anything good. The scarred trooper looked at him levelly.

"See if you can guess." He answered. Echo huffed he knew what Chopper wanted him to do and he knew he wasn't going to get answers any other way. So the younger trooper closed his eyes and concentrated. He focused his thoughts on the near future. He rifted through useless information. 'Exiting hyperspace tomorrow, landing on Geanosis later in the week…' he focused his search on the next couple of hours. 'Nerff burgers for lunch, inspections latter on in the afternoon…' he managed to close in on information involving Chopper. Echo's eyes snapped open immediately and he turned to his brother with a look of utter horror.

"You wouldn't?" Chopper chuckled in response.

"You're getting better at that. I remember it was just a couple of weeks ago you needed me inside your head acting as a power amp just to figure out what was for lunch tomorrow." Echo scowled.

"Chopper this is a bad idea." He warned.

"Do I get caught?" The scarred trooper asked raising an eyebrow.

"Well no." Echo admitted.

"Then there's absolutely nothing to worry about." Chopper replied as the turbo lift doors opened to the Jedi's private quarters.

"Chopper come on this is a really bad idea!" Echo practically begged.

"Lets see there should be one around here somewhere." Chopper said ignoring his brother's plea's entirely. Echo groaned he knew whom Chopper was going to find.

Just then General Fisto stepped out into the hall from a nearby room. He turned to them in surprise.

"Troopers is there something going on?" the Nautolan asked looking confused. Chopper grinned wickedly. And before Echo could even dream of stopping him he had the Jedi pined to the nearest wall.

"Trooper I demand an expla…" Fisto's voice broke off and his mouth hung open slightly. Echo watched as the Jedi's normally small pupils became larger and larger until the Nautolan's entire eye was consumed by charcoal black. He had expected this. But then something happened that Echo wasn't expecting.

Chopper's muscles went slack and he slumped over. Falling into the Jedi, who stood back rigid up against the wall, before hitting the floor in an unconscious heap. Fisto blinked several time's.

_No! No! No! O man what am I going to do? _The Jedi in front of him lifted his hand slowly, examining it as though he had never seen it before in his life. The nautoan looked up at Echo a grin plastered on his face.

"Ha! Who needs training now?" the Jedi exclaimed putting his hands on his hips. Echo stared at him as if he had just grown a second head named Clydus. The Jedi sounded… different. Same voice but instead of his familiar Nautoanian accent he was talking like…

"Chopper!" Echo felt the oncoming headache.

"In the flesh!" Fisto/Chopper replied.

"How did you? -" Echo's question was cut off by the brief flash of an image across his mind. The trooper groaned grabbed Choppers limp body and dragged him into the nearest room.

"What are you doing?" Chopper/Fisto asked. Echo didn't respond instead he hit the button on the doorframe and slide it closed in the Nautoan's face.

"Master Fisto, Master Skywalker wishes to see you on the bridge." Chopper stiffened as he realized why Echo was hiding.

_No good foresight using… doesn't even bother to warn me. _Chopper turned around quickly to face the young Troguta padawan standing behind him.

"Um, thank you youngling." Chopper said doing his best to impression of the nautoan's accent. Ahsoka didn't seem to buy it however because a look of concern crossed her face.

"Master are you feeling all right?" she asked looking genuinely worried.

"A-actually no um I think I should probably lie down for a moment so… ya." Chopper quickly slide the door open behind him stepped back and slide it closed again as fast as was humanly possible.

"Ok I'll tell Skyguy you'll be a little wile." The young padawan said her voice slightly muffled by the door. When Chopper was shore she was gone he turned and glared at Echo.

"You couldn't have warned me?" He exclaimed angrily. Echo made a face.

"Your mess you clean it up." the trooper replied with a shrug. "Now get back in your phwoarin' body." Choppers grinned and carefully sate his limp form up against the wall. He slowly pried open the eye's, which were revealed to still be the chilling red on black combination which made Echo's blood run cold to look at. The nautoan body wobbled slightly and then fell backwards. Echo managed to catch him before he hit the ground and then carefully laid the Jedi down on the metal floor. Chopper's body shivered and then snapped back to life. The scarred trooper stood slowly the same stupid grin plastered on his face.

"I don't ever want to know how you learned to do that." Echo stated flatly.

"Aw come on!" Chopper complained. "Its one Dar'yaim of a story." They carefully lifted the Jedi master onto his bed. Before leaving the room.

"You want to tell stories ok. When you are you going to tell me how you figured out you were a force sensitive?" Echo asked strongly as they got back on the turbo lift. Chopper stiffened Echo had been asking him this ever since he had found out they were force sensitive and he had been doing his best to avoid the question every time it came up.

Luck must have been on his side that day because just then the turbo lift door opened and two more troopers stepped on putting an end to their conversation.

Echo shot his brother a fierce glance. One way or another he was going to find out what happened to him.

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**Ok so like I said before I hope this isn't boring! Please review! I mean seriously please! My rule of thumb is if I don't get at least on review a chapter it means you guys have lost interest so please, please, please review! The sooner you review the sooner I update so do it! Next chapter we answer the question I know you all want answered… 'How did Chopper get his scar's?' so review!**

**p.s. please check out some of my other stories to!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Ha! First double digits chapter ever! So this is going to be good and long in celebration! Ok so this chapter starts out fairly normal but it gets really dark as it progresses on so I'm going to warn you know. Its kind of creepy gave myself the shivers righting it… anyway please read!**

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Echo dove out of the way just in time to avoid the thermal detonator which, if not for his 'early warning', would have easily taken his head off. The trooper scrambled over to a pile of debris were Chopper was taking cover.

"CANT YOU DO SOMTHING!" He shouted to the scarred trooper. They both ducked as another bomb went off overhead and then went back to firing on the droids.

"I'M SHOOTIN' AS FAST AS I CAN!" Chopper replied. Reloading his gun faster than Echo thought possible.

"YOU KNOW THATS NOT WHAT I MEANT!" Echo screamed.

Another bomb went off several feet away.

"DROIDS DON'T HAVE BRAINS, DI'KUT!" Chopper shouted to be heard over the noise of battle. "AND EVEN IF THEY DID I'D NEED EYE CONTACT!" another explosion went off near bye. The two clones exchanged blaster fire with the enemy but for every droid they cut down another took is place.

"WELL PHWOAR THE FORCE! AND WEAR IS OUR BACKUP!" Echo asked angrily. They'd been separated from the others almost a half hour earlier and despite multiple calls for help no one had answered. Chopper looked around.

"I HAVE A PLAN!" he shouted taking off for the cliff side next to the battlefield. Looking around Echo realized they were not just the only clones still alive they were the only clone's period.

"WHAT THE DAR'YAIM ARE YOU DOING!" Echo screamed as Chopper attached his gun cable to the side of the cliff.

"BA'SLAN SHEY'LA!" He replied shouting over an explosion that went off near by.

"WERE RUNING AWAY!" Echo asked in shock.

"THINK OF IT AS A STRATIGIC DISAPPEARANCE!" Chopper shouted back. Echo caught a fleeting image in his mind and instinctively tackled Chopper over the edge of the canyon. A defining explosion went off directly were they had been standing.

_Osik!_

Choppers cable became taught just in time to save them from certain death, but that didn't mean the landing was pretty.

Echo carefully untangled his limbs from his unconscious brothers body. Chopper being the unfortunate one who landed on the bottom.

"Chopper Come on wake up!" Echo urged. The scarred trooper didn't move.

"Where did they go?" He heard a high-pitched metallic voice ask from above. Echo slumped over Choppers body. Playing dead.

"There they are!" one of the droid shouted in excitement. "Should we blast them?" Echo held his breath.

_Please say no! Please say no! Please say no!_

"Save your ammunition. No clone could have survived that fall." the lead battle droid ordered the others. Echo let out a sigh of relief.

"Guess they didn't see Choppers cable." He mumbled thankfully. Echo remained still for a good 15 minutes until he was sure the droids were gone. He then carefully picked himself up off the ground.

"Come on Chop we have to move." Echo urged his still unconscious brother. He received a grunt in reply. Echo sighed. "Well at least your breathing." He mumbled. "Goanna be pretty mad when you wake up though aren't ya?" another grunt told him yes. Echo carefully hauled the scarred trooper up onto his shoulders. "Man Chop lay off the ration bars would ya?" Echo complained stumbling slightly under his brother's wait. Chopper moaned.

"Shut up Echo..." the scarred trooper mumbled absently.

Chopper suddenly seemed to remember were he was because a long stream of Mandalorian and Basic curse words could be heard coming from the scarred troopers mouth.

"Well you certainly can swear." Echo commented. "Can you walk?" the younger trooper was not exactly enthusiastic about firemen-carrying his equivalent in body wait, plus blaster, armor and god knows what elts Chopper had on him, across the desert landscape.

"Put me down you Chakaar!" Chopper ordered. Echo did as he was told. Purposefully dropping his fellow trooper so he landed on his head.

"OW!" Chopper complained. Rubbing his head before letting loose another long stream of profanity. Echo rolled his eyes and turned his gaze to the surrounding landscape.

"What do we do now?" he asked interrupting Choppers rant. The scarred trooper looked to the west and held up his hand for a ruff measurement of time.

"We only got about an hours till sun down." Chopper reported picking himself up off the ground. "Not enough time to get back to base…"

"If we could even _find _base." Echo added.

"Its settled then." Chopper said flatly. "We camp out for the night." A wild animalistic screech could be heard sounding like an alarm in the distance.

"Then I guess we better find shelter." Echo commented shivering slightly at the noise. Chopper nodded in agreement. Turning his attention to the nearby cliff side. Most likely searching for a cave. Echo noticed his brother's body tense.

"No…" Chopper whispered hoarsely. If Echo hadn't been listening carefully he probably wouldn't have heard it.

"Chopper what's-?" the scarred trooper ignored him instead taking off in a full out run. Heading deeper into the canyon. "Chopper wait!" Echo shouted after him running as fast as he could to keep up with his brother. Chopper squeezed through a small crevice in the rocks, entering a tunnel just large enough to stand in and just wide enough for two men to walk side by side.

Chopper didn't even slow down. He ignored Echo's calls for him to stop and charged on.

_No, no, no, no… _that one word was all the thought Chopper could manage. He was panicked he was scared… two things he hadn't been in a long time. Choppers mind barley registered the fact that as he ran the tunnel he was in opened up into a hallway.

Chopper ran faster still. The lights that lined the ceiling had blown out long ago and a thick layer of dust covered the walls and floor. He slowed down only slightly when he came to an intersection of halls. Chopper barreled down the left corridor leaving skid marks on the dusty floor. Chopper could see the doors now. They were open.

Chopper Charged through the doorway coming out into a medium sized room. The counters were still covered by broken beakers and test tubs and the horrid smell of chemicals still hung in the air. The remains of and operating table lay in the middle of the room next to a tray of razor sharp surgical tools. The metal instruments were still covered in small amounts of dried blood… _his_ blood.

Chopper fell to his knee's the horrible memories coursing through his mind simply too much to bear.

_The cold operating table beneath him, the feeling of metallic fingers scraping across his flesh, an indescribably sharp instrument piercing his scull... _

Choppers helmet suddenly felt as though it were squeezing the life out of him. He couldn't breath. The scarred trooper tore it off his head throwing it against a wall, so hard the visor cracked. He didn't care. The strain on his mind was too much. He was going crazy all over again. Old memories flashed before his eyes memories long forgotten, or more likely suppressed.

_A metallic hand brushed against his skin before a scalpel was slashed across his flesh, a scream of pain, then something worse. A sharp metal syringe was sinking into his arm. Fire coursed through his veins attacking every nerve in his body. It felt as though his very being was attempting to tear itself apart. And then… nothing…_

Chopper grabbed for his blaster. He needed it to end he would put a stop to it himself. Anything was better than this torture!

But before Chopper even had a chance to pull the trigger the gun was ripped from his hands.

The scarred trooper looked up desperately at the person who had denied him death… it was Echo.

"Chopper." Echo said softly. The scarred trooper wouldn't look him in the eye. "What is this place?" Chopper looked up at the room he was in and immediately regretted it. He returned his gaze to Echo the only thing that reminded him that _it _wasn't still happening. "Chopper." Echo repeated he seemed to be putting two-and-two together about where they were. "I read your file Chopper."

"You shouldn't have." The scarred trooper growled. "That's none of your business."

"Chopper." Echo was doing that on purpose, saying his name, trying to keep him sane. "Talk to me." Chopper stood shakily brushing off Echo's attempt to help.

"Lets just get out of here." Chopper mumbled. "There's a cave a few clicks away were we can sleep." Echo nodded not asking how Chopper knew about the cave. Chopper stumbled over to where his helmet had landed. He examined the broken visor with a frown but after a moment simply jammed it on his head and pretended the cracks weren't there.

The two men left the base in silence. Echo didn't ask the questions he so desperately wanted to ask. He didn't even try and find out through his 'other means' he knew it wouldn't be any use. This was all in the past. Set in stone, beyond his limited abilities. They came to the end of the hall and reentered the tunnel, which had led them here. Still Echo asked nothing.

They stepped out into the cool night air. Exiting through the large crack in the wall, which Chopper had dashed through so madly not a half an hour before.

The sun was almost set casting the world into a soft amber light. Something in deep biter contrast to the savage emotions that still coursed through Choppers veins.

They walked through the canyon for about 3 clicks before Chopper stopped. The sun was completely set now and only the moon and stars above provided light by which the troopers could see.

Without a word Chopper climbed up the face of the cliff. Pulling himself into a small cave about 3 meters of the ground. Echo followed him silently.

The cave was wide enough for a trooper to lye down without touching ether wall but not quit tall enough for them to stand up strait. Chopper walked slowly to the caves left wall and let his body slide down into a sitting position there. He kept his helmet on, staring intensely at his hands. Echo sighed heavily and went to the center of the small cave. The trooper pulled a handful of burn cubs out of his belt pocket and, with a single shot from his blaster, had a small flame going.

Echo sighed deeply and took a seat next to Chopper pulling off his helmet so he could relax a little.

They sat there for what felt like an eternity before Chopper finally spoke. His voice was amazingly steady considering the circumstances.

"It was in the first battle of Geanosis." Chopper began. Echo watched his brother intently. "I was deployed after the battle had ended. We were all a little disappointed that we hadn't gotten to be in the fight. Pretty stupid now that I think about it." Chopper shook his head and slowly pulled off his helmet. "My squad was sent to scout the area. _This_ area." Choppers mismatched eyes stared at the fire intently. Watching the orange and red flames dance through the air. "We were ambushed by clankers. My whole squad was killed except me. I though they were going to kill me but they didn't." Choppers eyes clouded over. "I wish they had. Would have saved me a lot of trouble." He returned to telling his story his voice holding an ominous air.

"They… brought me to the facility we saw down there." He swallowed hard. "It was a separatist research plant. They were doing e-experiments on various kinds of life forms." Choppers features darkened. "I was there only clone specimen. So I got to take part in all kinds of 'fun scientific breakthroughs'." Echo could tell by his tone of voice that he was quoting someone. "The- the first thing they did was try and brake my conditioning." Choppers voice began to shack slightly. "Now that I think about it that wasn't so bad. It felt good to let go of it all. The orders, the programming, I was my on man for the first time in my life. I could think for myself make decisions without orders… but nothing lasts forever." Chopper swallowed hard his face a mask of emotions.

"They started experimenting a few days after breaking my conditioning." Echo's eyes widened. "Its hard to be sure exactly what they did to me. I was so drugged up the whole time I couldn't even tell what day it was. But…" he placed his hand on the side of his head gingerly. "They were up here a lot."

Echo's eyes traced the fine white lines of Choppers scars. At first glanced they appeared random. But upon closer inspection you could tell that there was a pattern to them almost as if… Echo shut down that train of thought immediately. The last thing he needed was more nightmares.

"There was one scientist… I don't know his name. Never even got a good look at his face I was so drugged. He had a synthetic hand. That's how I always new it was him." Echo nodded slowly. Choppers fixation on droid finger suddenly seemed to make sense. "He was the worst. He would _talk _while he worked on me. He would tell me what he was doing. How 'amazing' it was..." Chopper swallowed. "One day I snapped. It was… to much..."

"Chopper." Echo said slowly speaking as though he were addressing a dangerous animal. "Did you… you know?" Chopper laughed. It was cold dry and completely humorless. The sound sent shivers down Echo's spine.

"Ya." Chopper finally answered coldly. "I tore his mind apart. Didn't even realize what was happening until after the fact. By the time I was done I don't think there was even one conscious thought left in his head." Echo felt his blood run cold. "I ran then. No one could stop me after that. The droids were to cowardly to try." Chopper gestured around him. "Hid here until some scouts found me. I got court marshaled for not reporting back to base as soon as I escaped." The cave was filled with an unnerving silence, broken only by the soft crackling of the fire.

"Chopper…" Echo said slowly. "Did you ever tell anyone about this." The scarred trooper was silent for a moment.

"They knew I was captured by the separatists." Chopper scowled. "As for what _exactly_ happened. They didn't ask… and I didn't say." Echo knew he was lying. The CO's would have at least asked if he was tortured so they would know if he was still fit for combat or not. More likely Chopper had… _persuaded _them to discard it as unimportant.

Not a word was said after that. Nothing needed to be said. Outside the cold night air blew over the geanosian landscape. Whistling like ghosts throughout the canyon…

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**Ok so this chapter was a lot longer than the others and pretty dark towards the end. I hope it was good though! Today I had a snow day! Ya you know your jealous. So that's why I got this up today. O and 'Anastasia' is the one who gave me the idea of Chopper being tortured and experimented on so you can all thank her for this inspiration!**

**Please review! Please, please I want to know if I did this ok!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Haaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyy! This was hard to write! Hope its worth all of the work I put into it! :)**

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Sketch glanced up from his drawing to get another good look at his subjects, then went back to the data pad. Across the room Chopper and Echo sat cross-legged on the floor playing cards, completely unaware that they were acting as models for one of the troopers famous pictures. Sketch smiled as he watched them.

He was glad they had become friends. Chopper wasn't the type to let people in, something that didn't help Gus's paranoia in the slightest. But with Echo he seemed comfortable. It was strange. When Chopper talked to someone he always acted like he was trying to hide something. Like he was never giving you the full story. But he was different with Echo he seemed comfortable around him, like he didn't have to hide who he was... Not that he should be hiding something from his other brothers, but you know what they say, baby steps.

Echo's lips moved as though he were speaking. But Sketch couldn't hear it from across the room. Chopper scowled good-naturedly and reached out to smack Echo in the back of the head. The younger trooper caught his arm mid swing and Chopper made a comment that sent both men laughing.

A small smile played on Sketch's lips as he put the finishing touches on his drawing. In his opinion it was one of his best and he planed on showing it to Echo and Chopper before they landed on Coriscant. If he could he hoped to include it in the art show some of his paintings were being displayed in.

Sketch clicked through his old drawings, he could still remember what he was doing when they were made. How he was feeling. He paused every now and again adding a detail. Erasing a line that shouldn't be there. Until he reached one that made him stop.

It was an old drawing. He'd done it months ago but it felt more like years. The picture was of Jester, Gus, Chopper, Punch and one other. They were smiling laughing at something Punch had said. Sketch looked at the face of the man who didn't belong there. He was a brother and Sketch had drawn him. He had even paid extra attention to the details of his face at the time. After all he had been there sergeant.

Sketch flipped the stylus in his hand and quickly erased the sergeant's face. He didn't want to remember Slick. He was the reason Jester cleaned his gun more than ever before, the reason Gus didn't trust anyone, the reason Punch tried to cover it all up by being happy all the time, and he was the reason Chopper never got close to anyone anymore. Sure Chopper had kept to himself before that but after it… he stopped making conversation. He wouldn't talk about it with anyone. And that was just fine. No one wanted to talk about it anyway.

"_Touch down is in half an hour so everyone better get on some civi clothing and have their stuff together by then." _Captain Rex's commanding voice told them all over the PA system. Sketch snapped out of his own thoughts and returned to the real world.

He quickly jumped up off of his bunk and tucked his data pad into his backpack along with the others. He was planning on selling a couple at the gallery opening. Hopefully he would make enough credits to buy a new set of color styluses his old one's were starting to show their use.

Punch jumped down from his top bunk and grinned at his brother.

"So what are you doing on Coriscant Sketch?" He asked pulling a pair of civilian pants out of his gear bag.

"I got a gallery opening in the mid-upper Coriscant art district." Sketch replied pulling off his body suit and slipping on a clean white dress shirt. "You can come if you want. It'd be nice to have some familiar faces there."

"I'm in!" Punch said smiling. "What about you guys?" he turned slightly to address the rest of the squad.

"Cant." Gus replied shaking his head. "I got paper work." he pulled on his uniform fatigues as he said it.

"Man that phwoars." Punch commented wrinkling his nose. "Jester?"

"Sure." The trooper in question replied with a shrug. Pulling on a pair of dark blue civilian pants. "What about you guys?" He turned to address Chopper and Echo who had just finished changing into their civi's. Chopper opened his mouth to reply but Echo beat him to it.

"We'll be there." He answered quickly. Chopper shot the younger man a glare and received a smirk in response.

"Great!" Sketch said enthusiastically. He garbed a black tie out of his bag and a dress jacket as well. "This is the highest class place I've ever shown in. So dress to impress. If anyone asks were quintuplets." Punch grinned and gave his brother a mock salute.

"Right o mister artist sir!" Sketch laughed lightly at his brother's joke grabbing his backpack and duffel bag off the ground.

"I'm going to head down to the hanger so I can get to the gallery early. But I'll see you guys there!" He turned to hurry out the door. "O ya!" he spun around quickly just remembering something. "Echo, Chop would it be all right if I displayed a picture of you guys?" the two troopers exchanged looks and shrugged.

"Sure." Echo replied. Sketch grinned with excitement.

"Awesome I'll see you guys there!" he turned quickly and was gone before you could say 'kaminoans phwoar.'

"Well he seems excited." Jester commented giving his Blaster one last swipe over before packing it into his gear bag.

"Hope he remembers to drop his gear bag off at the barracks..." Gus muttered as he finished packing his bag. "See you boys planet side." And with that the Sergeant was gone as well leaving Punch, Jester, Chopper and Echo to get ready.

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Chopper glanced around him. Sketch wasn't kidding when he said this was high class. The Art gallery main hall was filled with the white-collar citizens of Coriscant. All of whom were wearing outfits that could probably rival those of the court goers of nabo. Several waiters walked around carrying glasses of champagne on large black trays.

All of it made Chopper, with his last minute two-piece suit and untied bow tie, feel very out of place. Not to mention he was ninety nine point nine percent sure they were staring at his scars… Chopper resisted the urge to snap at them to stop looking at him and instead turned his attention to one of the painting projected on the wall. Frankly he didn't get it. Apparently nether did Punch because he was craning his neck to the side staring at it.

"I think this pictures side ways." He stated blankly his bolo tie swinging in the air as he craned his neck to the side.

"It's abstract art Punch it's supposed to look like that." all four brothers turned their heads to see Sketch standing behind them. Jester cracked a smile.

"Not one of yours I'm guessing." Sketch shook his head.

"No my sections over there." He gestured to the left were several people were crowded around a cluster of well down drawings and paintings. "Come on. I'll show you." Sketch headed off in the direction of the crowd. Chopper went to follow him when he noticed Echo out of the corner of his eye. He had that blank emotionless look on his face that Chopper had come to know so well.

_Come on not here… _a twilek waitress walked past them. The young women tripped on her over sized heals and the tray flew up in the air.

Before Chopper was sure what was happening Echo shot forward catching the woman in one arm and using the other to grab the tray and drinks mid-air not spilling a drop of the alcoholic beverage. The waitress blinked in surprise.

"Wow!" She finally exclaimed. "Nice reflexes!" Echo looked extremely uncomfortable and quickly set the woman back on her feat. He handed her the tray.

"Um… ya… reflexes… let's go with that," he stammered out, retreating over to where Chopper was standing. The young woman raised an eyebrow at him but let it slide. The rest of the room quickly lost interest in the whole fiasco and went back to there conversations. "Ok this is freaky I wasn't even looking for it that time." Echo whispered urgently. Chopper gave his brother a look of mild concern.

"You don't try to see things a lot of times but you still see them." He shifted his eyes to something much more interesting across the room.

"Never when there about to happen! I usually have to be looking for something or expecting danger in order to see them!" Echo noticed Chopper wasn't paying attention any more. "Are you even listening?" as it turned out Chopper wasn't. His gaze had fallen on a beautiful pantoran woman with light purple hair and delicate features. In fact everything about her seemed delicate from her long graceful fingertips to her soft laughter. She made him feel self-conscious and barbarous. Things he rarely felt or worried about. As soon as Echo saw what he was staring at his own problems were the last thing on his mind.

"She's pretty." Echo coxed. Chopper scowled at him.

"Don't make fun of me smart-shebs." Echo shrugged not taking any offence and _not_ backing down.

"Go talk to her brother." The younger trooper urged. He new this would work if Chopper would just give it a chance. After all his dreams hadn't been wrong yet… "Your not a hut'uun are you?" Chopper gave Echo a look that could have stopped a sith lord.

"I aint not phwoarin' hut'uun!" Echo put his hands on his hips.

"Then go talk to her." Echo urged giving his brother a gentle shove in the pantorins direction. Chopper sighed.

_When we get back to barracks that little smart-shebs is going to wish he were dead… _Choppers thoughts were cut off when he realized he was standing in front of the beautiful pantoran and Echo was no where to be seen. _Osik._ The Pantoran smiled at him.

"Hello are you Sketch?" Chopper blinked.

"No ma'am." _Stupid, stupid, stupid. _"I'm his brother Chopper." The pantoran smiled sweetly.

"Well Chopper my name is Riyo. Its very nice to meet you."

_VERY nice. _Chopper agreed.

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Captain Rex was ready for a good long nights sleep. It had been so long since he'd gotten any decent shuteye, the captain would have slept on the _floor_ if need be. But as it was he had his own room with his own bunk. With his luck Rex was practically expecting someone to come running up to him, telling him he needed to go some were or do something. But as it was that didn't happen. The captain slid open the door, and reached into the room to fumble with the light switch.

_Where is it?... There! _The lights snapped on.

Needless to say Rex was _not _expecting to be greeted by the business end of a blaster pistol.

"Hello Captain."

Rex's world went black with a smashing blow to the back of his scull.

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**CLIFF HANGER muahahahahahahaha! *Evil grin* any way how did you guys like the chapter? Good? Bad? Other? if you like the idea of Chopper/Riyo Chuchi Check out Canadiancloneluver for more cause this is just a preview of what i'm going to give you some time in the future. cause this is n_ot _a romance fic. ok so what was i going to say? o ya! Please review! Please? *puppy dong eyes* Please?**


	12. Chapter 12

**Hola! Chapter 12 is finished! And since its my birthday… its extra long! For your reading pleaser, *extravagant bow* quick warning if you freak out every time Rex is in danger turn back now. *Dark voice* you have been warned. XD now on to the show!**

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**Coruscant Republic clone barracks **

"Best. Night. Of my life." Chopper breathed flopping down on his bunk. Echo peered at him from the top bunk of there temporary barracks.

"Told ya." He said with a smirk. "Do me a favor and name your first kid after me." Chopper scowled and tossed his pillow at him. Echo caught it easily with one hand and stuck out his tongue. Chopper scowled again.

"Shut up smart sheb." He was careful not to say more. Gus and Punch were in their bunks. It was too risky.

Sketch had stayed at the Art show after Chopper, Echo and Punch had left, apparently striking up a _fascinating_ conversation with one of his fellow artists, a pretty Red twilek by the name of Ruby. Jester had left a couple of hours before them. Saying he had an old friend he wanted to go and see. Chopper knew _exactly _who that friend was but it defiantly was _not_ a safe topic in their unit. Chopper was sure that if Gus knew he would have an aneurism. Speaking of Gus…

"Skywalker says were taking off tomorrow." Chopper felt his stomach drop. He had hoped they would have more time. Riyo had given him her number. He had wanted to… "Where's Jester and Sketch anyway?" Punch looked up from a data novel he had bought outside the art exhibit.

"Sketch is wooing some sculptor girl by the name of Ruby. Not sure what happened to Jest. He said he was going to visit and old friend." Gus scowled.

"Any idea who that is?" He asked with a twinge of impatience. Chopper knew but he wasn't telling. Punch shrugged.

"Beats me." He turned his attention back to the data novel. Echo shot Chopper a look as if to say 'you know don't you'. Chopper nodded once but said nothing. Echo nodded in response and lay back on his bunk with a copy of 'gungan's travels' in hand. He was only about three pages in to the story when a sudden wave of foreboding washed over him. He bolted up right silently. Something, some ware, was very very wrong…

* * *

**YT-1300 holding cell **

Rex's head felt as though someone had used it as a punching bag. A dull throbbing pulsated throughout his scull attempting to drag him out of unconsciousness. A sharp backhand to his jaw yanked him the rest of the way into reality. And his eyes opened to the disfigured face of one of his brothers.

"Good morning captain." the brother smiled. But there was no comfort in that smile only the promise of pain. As if to emphasis this point the clone pulled out an old fashion metal knife and began tracing the blade along Rexes chest.

The captain took stalk of his surroundings he was in a holding cell most likely on a ship. His hands and feet were bound to the wall and his armor was gone leaving him only in his black body suit. The brother standing in front of him, the one tracing a knife along his flesh was wearing his armor, _his_ armor!

"Do you know who I am?" the brother asked coldly pushing the sharp metal edge of his blade against Rexes cheek.

"Your a traitor." Rex snarled in response this earned the blade being pushed harder into his skin. A few drops of crimson blood slid down Rexes cheek.

"Try again," the brother growled. "You look at me and you think HARD." Rex refused to look at his captor earning him a bone crushing punch to the stomach. Rex gasped hard for air. He'd never met a brother who could hit that hard. Sure he'd had the wind knocked out of him in a practice fight with other clones lots of times but this was different. It felt like the strength of ten men was packet behind that punch.

"Look at me!" the brother ordered sharply smacking Rex across the face with the same shattering strength. Reluctantly Rex obeyed and brought his eyes up to meet the other clones. They were a sickly yellow gold not at all like the amber brown they should have been. "Do. You. Know. Me?" Rex shook his head slowly.

"I don't know who the dar'yam you are." he growled. This earned him another bone crushing blow to the stomach. Rex bit his lip not willing to let this aruetii have the satisfaction of hearing him scream.

"Maybe this will jog your memory." the trooper grabbed the captain's chin in hand forcing him to look into his sickly yellow eyes. At first Rex couldn't understand what he was seeing. The scares on the brother's face smoothed out and his patchy black hair grew even setting into a smooth crew cut. A set of strangely familiar tattoos on his cheekbones became clearer and his eyes set into their natural hazel brown. "Permission to take point sir?" Rexes eyes widened looking at the clone before him.

"Heavy?" his voice was horse and full of disbelief. "But... how?" the captain shook his head recovering from the shock. "You chakaar we thought you were dead!" Heavy laughed coldly.

"You would have liked that wouldn't you have captain?" Heavy's face shifted back to it's disfigured form and he went back to tracing the blade along Rexes skin.

"What the hell are you talking about Heavy?" Rex snapped as the metallic blade was pushed against his arm drawing a small line of crimson red blood.

"As if you don't know traitor!" Heavy punched him hard in the jaw to emphasize his point. Rex straitened his neck out slowly.

"_I'm _the traitor here?" he spate bloody saliva onto the steal floor. "I'm not the one holding his brother hostage."

"You killed them!" Heavy snapped, punching Rex all the harder in the jaw. The captain remained silent and Heavy smiled coldly. "It's timed to pay for your sins _brother_." He spate it out as if the very word insulted him. Rex remained silent only glaring up at Heavy's disfigured face. He had been trained in counter interrogation. He knew responding would only show weakness. Heavy grabbed his chin and forced him to look him square in the eye. "Such a distinctive face." Heavy mused taping the thin white scar on Rex's chin none to gently. "And people say every clone looks the same." As Heavy spoke his face once again shifted like putty this time his patchy black hair smoothing out into a short blond buzz cut. "Every cut, every scare, every line makes you completely unique." His scares smoothed out and shifted to display the unmistakable face that belonged to the captain. So much like his brothers but still so different. "Irreplaceable." Heavy mumbled coldly, giving his brother a grin, which bordered on psychotic.

The door to the holding cell swished open and a rodian stepped in.

"Are you done playing yet?" Greeto's lips curled in what must have been the rodian equivalent of a snarl. "We have to meet that separatist your selling him to."

"You misunderstand." Heavy shook his head smirking and not leaving Rex's form. "The separatists only pay so much for a hostage." His voice dropped several tones, the same but still different, and distinctly Rex's. "Information. That's priceless." He tossed Greeto a communicator. "Keep in touch dikut, anything I find out you can sell to the seppies after this is over." Heavy reached into one of his belt pockets and pulled out a small metal remote. He handed it to Greeto. "I want him _broken _by the time I get back." Heavy turned and headed for the door.

"Why do this?" Rex shouted at the man's back. "Why betray us? Why take me hostage?" he struggled against his bounds though he knew it was pointless. "Why impersonate me?" Heavy turned slowly to face him with a smile, which could only have belonged to a mad man. He seemed to radiate an even darker presence than before.

"Simple." He whispered. "I want you to _hurt_."

* * *

**Coruscant planet-side prison, block E section 5 mental ward**

The security guard led Jester down the long winding prison corridor. The eyes of each prisoner gazed out at him with hate filled expressions. Clones were not taken to kindly in this place.

He had left the art gallery before his brothers. He had simple told them he was going to visit an old friend and they believed it. Why wouldn't they? He had no reason to lie.

After several minutes of walking they reached a small room labeled 'private visitors' the guard slipped his access card into the port and the door slid open with only a slight grown of protest. The guard motioned for Jester to step inside.

"Just make sure he aint got nothing worse than a broken arm once yer done." He ordered sternly. "Bacta aint cheep." Jester's hands balled into fists at the guard's words.

_He thinks I'm here to beat him and this is how he acts? _It put a bad taste in Jesters mouth.

He turned quickly and entered the meeting room. It was a simple gray walled cub, with only a set of two bolted down steal chairs for decoration. Sitting in the chair farthest from the door was his brother. In an orange prison uniform and chains holding him to the chair by his ankles and wrists. Fresh bruises could be seen up and down his exposed arms, along with old scares, which looked suspiciously like burns. He was thin, a lot thinner than a clone should have been. His brother glared up at him. But the look of anger quickly turned to a broad smile.

"Jester, Su'cuy, Ner vod!" He extended his hand in welcome despite the chains, which held him in place.

"Su'cuy'gar Slick." Jester said with a smile clasping his brothers forearm in the mandoan way. Slick gestured for his brother to sit down.

"So, you come to break me out yet?" it was a joke, not a very good one but still a joke. Jester shook his head with a chuckle.

"Not today Slick." The former sergeant made a face.

"Your no fun." Jester laughed. "So." Slick said after a moment. "What brings you to this quack house."

"Our convoy is refueling I thought I'd stop bye to say hi." Slick laughed darkly.

"Nothing like visiting a convicted traitor to warm yer heart right?" His voice was layered with sarcasm. "What's on yer mind kid?" Jester sighed heavily and shook his head.

"Darks dead. Gus got promoted."

"Osik." Slick swore. "Rex is a bigger ordinii than I thought. I mean why not Sketch? Even Punch would have made a better sergeant than _Gus_!" Jester shook his head. Slick was right. Gus was too paranoid. Some may think that paranoia made you a better leader. Those people would be wrong. Slick shook his head and muttered a few choices swear words about the 'shabla republic morons'.

"We got a new trooper." Jester offered quietly. "His names Echo." Slick raised his eyebrow in question.

"You not like him or something?" Jester shook his head quickly.

"No, no its not that its just…." He sighed. "I don't know there's something… different about him. Something… off." All trace of joking disappeared from Slicks face and he leaned in close.

"You think he might be like us?" Slicks voice dropped to a whisper. "_Different?_"

"I don't even know." Jester sighed. "I never could tell this kind of thing. Remember I used to thing Chopper was like us?" Slick laughed slightly but it did little to lower the tension in the air and left behind an ominous hollow feel. "What do you think?" Slick shrugged as leaned back against his chair.

"If he is, he is, if he's not, he's not chances are were not the only ones of our kind Jester." Jester sighed.

"So should I confront him about it?" Slicks frown deepened.

"No, to risky what if he's not and he rates on you? There's a 110% chance you'll end up on a kaminoan operating table." Both men shivered slightly. That was what they feared most, being caught. If the kaminans found out they were _different_…

"Who's been beating you?" Slick appeared slightly blindsided by the question but brushed it off quickly.

"That's not important." He said it quickly, almost to quickly. Jester sighed heavily.

"How many of them were brothers?" Slick scowled.

"Six." He replied coldly. "Stone drunk all of them. The shabuir guard chained me down so I couldn't fight back."

"You could have." Jester mumbled. "You could have easily." Slick glared at him.

"Last I checked sending a couple thousand volts through someone isn't normal. I many be a traitor, but I still don't want to get dissected." Jester sighed.

"Ya your right, its just…" he trailed off.

Not for the first time Jester couldn't help but think how pointless it all was. He didn't consider himself a traitor but if he was still 'chummy' with a convicted turncoat he couldn't exactly be loyal could he? But he and Slick… they were hatched from the same growth Jar. That was close, a lot closer than hatch-mates and that was one of the reasons Jester couldn't hate him for what he'd done. Slick had been Jesters hero all through there early years. He had followed the would-be-traitor like a loyal dog and if Slick had ever asked him to commit treason… Jester didn't even know.

"You wish we didn't have to hide." Slick mumbled crossing his arms over his chest. Jester nodded quietly. "Kriff same here. Don't you think it would have been nice if I could go full voltage on a Jedi?" Slick held his hand up in the air fingers spread and Jester could literally _see _the electricity jumping from fingertip to fingertip. "But come on Jest." Slick shook his head and griped his hand into a fist cutting off the electric current, which had flown through the room and caused every hair on Jesters body to stand on end. "Just think about what they would do to you? If they found out you could tear droids apart with the bat of an eyelash." Jester focused his gaze on the ground. He knew what he could do, had grown comfortable with it over the years, but hearing it out loud still unnerved him. All the same he nodded slowly.

"Yes sir." Neither man understood there abnormalities in the slightest but one thing was for sure, it was a secret they would take to their graves.

* * *

**Dunt dunt daaaaaa! Oh isn't it just delicious? I got the idea that there would be someone who didn't hate Slick for his betrayal and Jester just fit the bill! :D well anyway today is my birthday, which is why I posted this. It is my present to me! So leave me a review would ya? I want some presents! :DD **


	13. Chapter 13

**Let us take a moment to point out that since Echo never became and ARC trooper he was never at the citadel and therefore did not get blown to bits in an unnecessary cliché. Also the clone who got cut in half… didn't. Now that I'm done with that little rant please enjoy! I worked hard on this for all of you! ****:)**

* * *

A loud volume of voices echoed there way through his scull with each step. Heavy tried to fight them down, tried to make them _shut up_ and let him think. But every time they just came back, stronger and louder than ever before, yet one voice always echoed loader than the rest, a cold animalistic snarl of a sound that could not have belonged to any human.

"Captain!" Heavy stopped in his tracks and turned to see a shinny running toward him. A small smile tugged at the shape shifters lips. The kid reminded him of someone… he scowled when he couldn't remember who. The shiny finally caught up to him not even slightly out of breath. "Sir General Skywalker wants to see you on the bridge." Heavy smiled.

"Thank you trooper I'll go there immediately." The younger clone nodded and with a crisp salute hurried back to his duties.

Heavy's face darkened as soon as his brother was out of sight and he headed directly for the command center. He had no doubt in his ability's. He knew the Jedi wouldn't suspect a thing. Heavy even thought idly that he might have a little fun wile he was here.

_**Don't be foolish.**_That cold animalistic snarl chastised from the back of his mind. _**Your only objective is to tarnish the captain's reputation. Do as you are told. **_Heavy stopped suddenly.

_And then we'll kill him right? _He questioned. _We make him suffer. Then kill him. Then he'll pay for my brother's deaths? Then the voices will go away? _He wanted- no he _needed_ them to go away. They were driving him insane. They would make him crazy.

_**Of course, now do it. **_Heavy obeyed, walking purposefully in the direction of the bridge. He would do what had to be done to avenge his brothers' deaths, even if they were brothers he could not remember…

* * *

Punch lay stoke still in his bed, trying to swallow down the fear that was slowly rising in his throat. Normally he'd be six feet under unconscious by now, but some shabla dikut had turned the lights off as they left the room. When Punch found out who it was… there would be blood on the barracks wall's to say the least. Of course whoever had done it wouldn't have any way of knowing the shear agony they were putting the trooper through with the simple action.

Before the battle of Christosis Punch and several others had been stationed on the mountainous world of Fest, there had been an attack… droid's set off detonators above there established camp, burying every man there under several tons of rock.

Punch had spent 5 days in a very dark 3 by 6 hole before they finally found him and pulled him out.

Since then the trooper had made a point of never getting caught in the dark if he could help it, and though he would never admit it, not even to Sketch, he seemed to have developed a fear of that horrible blackness that consumed him whenever the lights were flicked off.

Punch hated himself for it. He knew it was irrational, knew the simple difference of light and dark wouldn't hurt him in the slightest. But it was the same as the tight trapped feeling he got when stuck in the middle of a large crowd of brothers, or when he was forced into the confined space of a trooper transport, or on his worse days, even the confinement of his helmet seemed to steal all the breath out of his lunges and make him border line panic. He tried to tell himself not to be so weak. None of his other brothers ever had this problem. And only kids were afraid of the dark-

The barracks doors opened and closed with a nearly silent _whoosh _and the lights came on.

Punch resisted the urge to jump out of bed and hug the man responsible. He couldn't do that. He had to make sure the thought he was sleeping. Couldn't let anyone find out how weak he was. What kind of soldier cant sleep with the lights off?

"Only a mater of time…" Punch's ears perked up at the sound of Gus's voice, so much like every other brothers and yet still different. "Running out… have to stop it… traitors all… can't be trusted…" the sergeants babbling continued, it was quickly reduced from catch sentences to meaningless words strung together and thrown out as though they meant something… but they didn't, at least not to anyone else. "Safe, traitors, run, Slick, they-"

Punch tried to block it out. Gus did this almost daily now and these 'private conversations' he had were making less and less sense ever time.

There was a soft creaking noise as Gus took a seat on his bed. Despite the fact that his eyes were closed Punch could picture what was going on. Gus would have his head in his hands, or maybe his hands between his knees, that long stream of mumbled words didn't let up, and if anything only took on a more fearful air.

Gus' mental state had been slowly declining ever since Christosis, and Punch felt like he was the only one who noticed. At first he thought it was just his own paranoia, but as the sergeants symptoms got progressively worse he became more and more sure there was something else going on.

"Who- who's there?" Punch forced himself to pay attention when the sergeant's word suddenly took on a desperate tone. He cracked his eyes open to see the sergeant standing again blaster raised and pointed at nothing but air. "What are you doin here?"

Punch tensed, who was he talking to? There was no one there.

"What… what are you talking about?" He watched through slited eyes as Gus visibly paled. A pause, as if he were listening to someone speak. "I'm nothing like you!" the sergeant's face retracted with rage at something his none-existent adversary had said. "You're a-a murderer, you killed brothers!"

Someone who killed brothers? Who did Gus think he was talking to?

Another pause this one longer and causing Gus's face to go from angry to conflicted.

"I would never-" he stopped abruptly as if he had been cut off. A moment passed and his face once again clouded with rage. "SHUT UP!" the safety on his gun clicked off. "JUST SHUT UP YOU SHABLA-"

"Sergeant!" Punch couldn't listen to this anymore; he had to make it stop. "There's no one their sir!" Gus turned to him, insanity in his eyes.

"Are you crazy?" he looked on the verge of attaching, making Punch wary of the blaster still in his hand. "He's right-" Gus turned to were he had been looking before. His eyes widened for a moment before he turned back to Punch. "He _was _right there!" so _he _was apparently gone now?

"Gus there's no one there! There never was anyone there!" he felt anger rising in him. Why would Gus do this to them? It wasn't right. " I don't care who the dary'am you think you were talking to just block it out!"

"But he was-" there was something else in the sergeant eyes now, pleading maybe, hoping to whatever god was out there that Punch would believe him.

"Just _bloke it _out." He didn't believe him. How could he? There hadn't been anyone there. Gus stared at him for a long time before finally jamming his helmet back on his head and storming out of the room, muttering under his breath. It may have been an unconscious decision but as he left Gus flipped off the light switch. Leaving the other clone once again in soul consuming darkness.

_Osik._

* * *

**I must have it out for these poor guys. :( Please keep in mind that my knowledge of psychology is based off of a middle school education, criminal minds (with my mom might not let me watch anymore :( ) and the Internet, so sorry for any mistakes. Anyway please review you know how much I need them :) **


	14. Chapter 14

**I can't believe it… I actually managed to make a decently long chapter! *Cheers* almost 11 pages all for you. :) A lot is going to happen in this chapter so here's some info you might need (in the first section of this chap the events leading up to a certain scene will be shone from 3 different perspectives. These perspective changes will be marked by 'X-X-X' and it will basically mean your being set back in time by 5-10 minutes. The second thing you should know is that anything written **_like this _**is thoughts; anything written _like this _****is an individual voice in the thought. And anything written **"-like this-" **is talk over a COM link. Now enough of my rambling enjoy :)**

* * *

Ahsoka stood a couple of feet behind her master as he briefed the men on their latest mission. Captain Rex stood next to him. There was something different in the way he stood though…. Almost as if any second he would pull out his blaster and shoot all of there heads off.

The padawan stared intensely at Rex's back. He had been acting strangely ever since they had landed on Coruscant for refueling and re-briefing 3 days ago.

He had been avoiding her. Rex _never _avoided her. If anything he went out of his way to be with her, especially since… no, she wouldn't think about that. Master Skywalker would easily be able to follow her thoughts if they went down that road. And Ahsoka had no interest in her master finding out about _those _things. Everyone had secrets right?

Ahsoka wanted desperately to peak into his thoughts. Get an idea of what was bothering him. Something must be bothering him right? She wanted to help. But Rex didn't like mind scans, he had made her promise not to try it on him. She had given her word as a Jedi that she wouldn't. Stupid Jedi word.

Ahsoka forced herself to pay attention to the briefing if only for a moment.

"-We are not expecting heavy resistance but be prepared in case we meet hostiles when exiting hyperspace." Skywalker was just finishing up the briefing. "Anything to add Rex?" he turned to his second in command.

A strangely demonic smile passed Rex's lips. Ahsoka felt a chill run through her spin.

"Forgot one thing sir." His hand was on his blaster.

**X-X-X**

Chopper wasn't really paying attention to the briefing. He could always get Echo to fill him in on what Skywalker had gone on about later. Instead he decided to play a little… _game_.

Chopper knew his limits. He knew he couldn't go pulling and prodding and snooping through people's minds without direct eye contact. But he had discovered (only a couple of weeks ago actually) that if he _really _focused on one person alone, he could get _just_ enough of a connection to follow a thought or two along the surface of there minds, nothing major, he couldn't influence them in anyway, but it was _something._ Though his own physical reaction was the same to when he went in 'through the front door' as he put it. He had his helmet on and no one would notice.

Chopper focused his gaze on Gus who was seated directly in front of him, and carefully he pushed open the 'back door' and let himself peak at the others thoughts.

He had never been more shocked in his entire life.

Chopper imagined the thought process as an interplanetary switchboard of sorts, one which correctly matched up all ideas, memories, and stimulations with the correct emotional responses. It was supposed to have an order, a sort of mental system to work out each individual meaning.

It would seem Gus's interplanetary switchboard was… broken. It was as though his mind had all but abandoned the process of sorting and synthesizing the data it was given and had instead just begun plugging random emotions, thoughts, and ideas to wrong and even inappropriate stimuli.

At that very moment behind the safety of his helmet Gus was trying not to break down laughing. As if their latest mission specs where the funniest thing he'd ever heard.

Chopper pulled out. Thanking the force that he could only go so far, he was sure if he had taken the 'front door' he would have been sucked into the heart of the sergeants madness. That was a place Chopper had no interest in going. He valued his sanity. 

Chopper shook his head slowly. Trying to clear the confusion from his mind. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed Echo.

_Osik… _this was bad. _Not here._ _Not now… _that look had returned to Echo's eyes. But it wasn't like the time on coruscant. That had been trivial, less dangerous. Now fear seemed to emulate from every atom of Echo's being.

All at once the trooper seemed to crash back to reality.

"NO!" Echo leapt forward as a blaster shot range through the briefing room. 

**X-X-X**

Something felt off.

Echo pushed the feeling to the back of his mind and tried to focus on the briefing. They where headed back to the outer rime to liberate some still unnamed separatist planet. Echo's eyes wandered to the captain standing behind Skywalker. There was something different about him.

Not for the first time Echo wished he could read minds. Though Chopper had told him it was not a _fun _experience it still would have come in handy. Something wasn't right here…

Every molecule in Echo's body froze and images flashed through his mind.

**Fresh blood spattered the off white walls. The screams of children echoing through his consciousness, ringing true to his name. Echo could do nothing as he watched the massacre unfold in front of him. **

**He was in a room he recognized from holovids as the Jedi council chambers, everything was dark, terrified emotions hanging in the air like a convict at the gallows. A small group of younglings huddled in the corner, shaking with fear. **

**An ominous swish sounded behind him as the blast doors opened and closed. Echo's vision shifted giving him a view of the new comers. **

**He _knew _****them. There faces where covered in shadows, dark hoods pulled over there heads. Something evil surrounded them, chilling the bone more than the frozen fields of Hoth ever could. **

**"Master?" a small boy stepped forward from the group, walking slowly toward the two dark figures. "Master there are so many of them." His voice held desperation a child should never feel. "What should we do?" **

**A dark mist faded over the image leaving Echo with the sickening sound of a light saber activating, blaster fire, and children's screaming. **

**It was then that he felt _it. _****That invasive, mind-consuming greed that seemed to burrow its way to the very deepest reaches of Echo's soul. It pushed on his barriers and he pushed back. Fighting not only the images but his own vocal cords as well. He couldn't scream. A small part of him still remembered the consequences that would bring. **

**Something snapped and Echo felt himself being hit by a tidal wave of information. **

**Captain… imposter… Skywalker… **

Echo crashed back to reality.

"Forgot one thing sir." Rex's hand was on his blaster.

"NO!" Echo dove forward tackling Rex to the ground and knocking the pistol out of his hand. But not before a shot was fired.

Skywalker's entire body twisted as the plasma bolt meant for his heart crashed with a sickening _squitch_ into his shoulder. He hadn't seen the attack coming, hadn't sensed it. It was as though Rex's actions had been cloaked from anyone's detection.

Anakin's body crumbled to the ground.

Rex delivered a solid kick to Echo's jaw before taking off out the door. Echo was after him in an instant.

The group remained frozen for a few precious milliseconds as they tried to take in what had just happened. Ahsoka reacted first taking off after the two troopers shouting Commands over her shoulder. Chopper took off after her and he heard the sound of several of his brothers following him. Accompanying the shouts of anger, orders and cursing. He could have sworn he heard Gus's laughter chasing him down the hall, but maybe it was just in his head.

* * *

_Osik! _Hevy's mind was running faster than his feet ever could. _That little chakaar ruined everything! _

**_You where supposed to kill Skywalker! _**The voice snarled demanding an explanation, angered by it's being denied more power to feed on.

_I know! _Hevy pushed against the ground on force heightened feet. With each step getting farther and farther ahead of the trooper chasing him. He had seemed familiar… dozens of voices chastised him for not focusing on getting away.

Hevy vaulted himself over the heads of several troopers who had tried to block the hall. He landed on the balls of his feet and kept going, he rounded the corner and nearly ran into the wall. He turned to find the glowing tip of a green light saber blade pointed at his throat. Of course the Jedi would be the fastest.

"Why Rex?"

Hevy lifted his gaze from the light saber to meet the big blue eyes of the trogruta holding it. There was sorrow in her eyes, pain. Something deep inside of him pitied her.

"I'm sorry." Hevy mumbled almost to himself.

**_Don't be. _**

The sound of a dozen blaster safeties clicked off and Hevy raised his eyes once again to see a hand full of his brothers with weapons pointed at his chest.

"End of the line." A trooper he recognized as Denel growled. "Hands in the air _traitor_." A dark smile formed on the Hevy's lips as he slowly raised his hands over his head.

**_This may work to our advantage. _**The voice was thoughtful this time, sinister.

* * *

Skywalker was stable. Kix had told Echo that much. Though Kix had been tight lipped when he said it. He, like all of them, where having a hard time believing there captain would do this.

Echo had just exited the med bay from getting his jaw checked out when Chopper came to find him.

"General Kenobi is boarding the ship now. He wants to interrogate Rex." His voice was hard and filled with anger. "I can't kriffin believe the captain would do this."

"I don't think he did." Echo mumbled thoughtfully.

"What the phwoar are you talking about?" Chopper raised an eyebrow at him skeptically. "Everyone saw it. Of coarse he did."

"No you don't understand." Echo glanced around nervously. He noted several troopers mulling through the hall, going about there duties. "Call it a _hunch_." Chopper froze mid stride.

"You know what they say about following your gut." He slid open their barracks door and peered inside, no one. He practically pulled Echo into the room. "All right start talking. What did you see?" His voice was hard and demanding. Echo avoided eye contact.

"A massacre..." he shook his head. "But the important part right now is that I saw an _imposter _attempt to assassinate general Skywalker."

"Why?" Chopper had that look on his face again. The one that meant he was up to something.

"You know I don't know that." Echo looked him hard in the eye as if to say 'don't even think about it'. Unfortunately for Echo, Chopper either couldn't tell or didn't care.

"You don't know, I'll find out." The scarred trooper turned briskly for the barracks door.

"Chopper." Echo placed a hand on his shoulder, successfully stopping him. "The general will be interrogating him soon. Don't do anything stupid." Chopper turned his mismatched eyes on him.

"Thanks for the idea." A scare crinkling grin spread across his face.

"Oh no don't you even-" Echo stopped talking abruptly when the barracks doors slid open and Jester, Punch, and Sketch filled in heading for there bunks.

Chopper glanced at the others and noticed to his relief Gus wasn't among them; he couldn't look at the sergeant the same way anymore.

"Can you believe this?" Punch asked, jumping up onto his bunk. "And ya think ya know somebody."

"He's a traitor." Sketch shook his head, setting his focus on the data pad in his hand.

"And they figured _we _would be the next ones to step out." Punch scoffed. "I hope that hut'unn gets what he deserves." Chopper and Echo exchanged glances before exiting the barracks without a word.

* * *

Gus rocked himself slowly back and forth, trying desperately to calm his nerves.

The sergeant sat in the corner of an empty storage room. His knees were drawn up to his chest; his arms rapped around his stomach and held himself in a defensive manner. His helmet had been discarded. If he kept it on _they_ could use it to tap into his brain frequencies... _They_ would steal his thoughts, use them against him and his brothers…

"Not right…" he whispered. "Not right, the captain, not right, CO's don't turn, not right, it doesn't work like that, it doesn't." His words were broken, trying desperately to convey to himself the thoughts he couldn't understand. Voices he had come to know as well as those of his brothers spoke to him. Taunting him, mocking him, scolding him for his weakness.

_Hut'unn you just sit here and let them use you like this. _

_You should be more careful._

_You're useless. They're all going to turn if you don't stop them. _

_It could have been anyone._

_Or maybe your goanna be next. _

"N-no." Gus stammered.

_What's to stop you?_

_A danger to everyone._

_Sergeants can't be trusted._

_You want__to kill you brothers?_

Gus's hand shook as he reached for his viro-blade.

_Protect them._

_A menace._

_No better than Slick._

Gus pressed the serrated metal edge of the blade to his exposed wrist, watching, his breath raged, as the crimson trickle of blood ran down his arm and splattered onto his thy plate.

_No better than Slick. _

"-Sergeant Gus-"

The blade dropped out of Gus' hand has Commander Cody's voice echoed over his COM unit.

"Yes sir?" he managed to answer without his voice shacking to badly. _They can't know. They'll do terrible things to you if they know. _

"-Report to the bridge. I have some questions for you about the incident. -" Cody's voice was harder than usual, angrier.

"But sir-"

"-That's and order sergeant-" Cody cut him off harshly. Something deep inside Gus' head clicked. You didn't go against orders.

"Yes sir." Gus deactivated his COM and stared at the cut on his arm before pulling his wrist gantlet back on to hide the evidence. He ran his hand through his greasy unkempt hair in an attempt to clear his head. He'd once prided himself in a clean-shaven head and a well-kept appearance, but it didn't seem to mater now, nothing seemed to mater now.

Reluctantly Gus stumbled over to where his helmet lay discarded on the floor. He stared at it nervously for a moment before gingerly placing it on his head. Like he was handling a live boom. He took a deep breath, in and out, trying to silence the constant sneering of voices that surrounded him, told him things… awful things.

Gus shook his head slowly and began walking in the direction of the bridge.

* * *

**I've put a lot of research into this story. (Particularly into the developments I'm making with Gus, don't want to say to much and give it away) and I hope it's paying off. Please PM me if you have any questions or are confused by anything, the plot is thickening and I need all the help I can get in making sure this is understandable. So ya, review, PM, the works. Things should become clearer and clearer as time goes on. (And to those of you reading 'all Ends' I'm about half way through the next chapter, but was hit by a vicious case of writers block D:) **

**So ya Review as always. :) please? **


	15. Chapter 15

**did you think i was dead? nope, :) sorry for the long wait in the confusing darkness. :/ i should probably take this time to tell you that if anyone is reading 'unmanageable kayos' its been placed on hiyatos temporarily :( but the tale of hevy continues. i hope this is long enough, i'm updating at midnight... i feel bad about not updating anything lately :P**

* * *

Hevy leaned his back against the cool metal of his prison cell walls. No, not cell, interrogation room. A cell would have a steal slab bed and 'fresher. This room held only a metallic table and two chairs all of which were firmly bolted to the ground. Hevy racked his brain, trying desperately to remember how he knew that.

_**Focus on the matter at hand. **_

Hevy started, unfolding his arms and straitening his back out of habit. _Sorry sir. _

Hevy shook his head again and ran a hand absently over his now short blond hair. _Kriff I just can't get used to that. _Impersonating the captain had proved to be a much harder task than he had originally anticipated. Especially when that Troguta came into the picture. _Its almost like she knew him personally…_

_**Perhaps she did. **_

_Sir?_

_**Surly you felt her sense of betrayal? That hurt can only come from a lover.**_

Hevy shook his head once again. _What should I do?_

_**Use it. **_

He nodded slowly, a small twinge striking inside his chest. He didn't want to hurt the trogruta. She seemed nice; his beef was with that traitor captain.

Hevy's gaze shot up when a man he did not recognize entered the room.

_**General Obi wan Kenobi.**_

* * *

Obi wan was flabbergasted. Never in the two years he had been fighting this war had Kenobi suspected the captain was capable of treason.

_And yet he tried to kill Anakin. _Kenobi wanted answers, as a Jedi he was forbidden from attachments. But Anakin was his padawan and despite the fact that he was completely irresponsible and reckless Obi wan cared deeply for the younger man. Like a father watching over his wayward son.

Rex was like Anakin in so many ways it was almost scary. Both where impulsive, impatient (though the captain was careful not to show it). They where both rash, good pilots, they both carried the weight of the universe on there shoulders. In a philosophical discussion Kenobi had once had with his own second in command he had come across the sad truth that command clones often modeled themselves after their Jedi generals, adapting there personality and even their way of looking at the world.

It made him deeply concerned for the captains well being. He loved Anakin as a brother but he knew all to well that the boy's personality was a lit fuse; especially for someone who's entire life had been built on order and protocol.

The captain's treachery only seemed to prove this.

Cody had taken the news badly, at first seeming to not believe it at all. But the Commander was a man of reason, much like his own general. And he had since been filled with a spin chilling mix of anger, betrayal, and guilt. One didn't even need to be force sensitive to know this. It was written all over the man's face, if you knew what you where looking for.

Kenobi's ship had been on its way to there rendezvous point with admiral Uloren's fleet in the outer rime when he received word on the captain betrayal.

The 'negotiator' had immediately changed courses, heading directly for the 'resolute'.

Now Jedi master Obi wan Kenobi stood in front of the man who had nearly killed his former padawan.

He sensed turmoil and… something unfamiliar.

"General." The captain acknowledge him with a node, immediately the sense of turmoil vanished, the unfamiliarity in his force signature disappeared completely, causing Kenobi to question his own abilities.

"Captain." Kenobi nodded his acknowledgment his face a mask to the anger hidden within _anger is not the Jedi way. _The red hair man took a seat at the metal table in the center of the room; he motioned for Rex to do the same. "This is quite the mess wouldn't you agree, captain?"

"All depends on how you look at it sir." Rex remained standing, arms folded across his chest, an unreadable expression across his face.

"All do respect Captain, you failed, another man will come to take your place as Anakin's second when he recovers. You will be sent to prison for treason against the republic, and though the death penalty was abolished years ago I highly doubt you'll ever walk free again." Obi wan was known for his skills as a negotiator. Interrogation, he knew, required a much different set of skills. _Show them it is pointless to fight, and they will tell you what you want to know. _

"I disagree." Rex's features remained neutral but there was an unmistakable twinge of cockiness in his voice. "My influence runs deeper than you think, _sir._"

_Keep talking captain._ Obiwan placed a hand on his chin, fawning interest. "And pray tell who else have the separatist's corrupted?"

Rex scowled deeply, clearly having said more than he intended.

Just then Kenobi's COM link beeped.

-"Sir general Skywalker has gained consciousness, he wishes to speak to you."-

Kenobi sighed lifting the COM to his mouth. "Please inform him I'll be there momentarily."

-"Yes sir."-

Obi wan looked up at the captain. "We'll have to continue this conversation later."

Rex just glared at him.

* * *

"Chopper this is a VERY bad idea." Echo's concerns fell on deaf ears as the scared trooper peered around the corner, into the hall general Kenobi would walk threw any moment.

"I want answers." Chopper stated flatly. "This is how we get them."

"But this is OBIWAN KENOBI you're talking about!" Echo tried desperately to reason with his brother. "There's no way this is going to work!"

"Quite! He's coming." Chopper hissed pulling his head back around the corner and waiting, Echo was about to open his mouth to say something when several images flashed through his mind.

_Kriff._

* * *

On the bridge of the 'resolute' CD-323, (Pax to his brothers) noticed something on the radar.

"We got an incoming ship." He spoke looking up at the deck sergeant.

"Seppie's?" the sergeant asked peering over Pax's shoulder to look at the screen.

"No sir." Pax shook his head. "Civilian ship, small, only one."

"Probably just some off course merchants. Let them pass."

"Yes sir." Pax watched the blinking dot on his screen, at the same time scanning for anything else that might be nearby. There was nothing. Pax's attention snapped back to the civilian ship when a realization struck him. "Sir!" Pax called out waving for his sergeant to come back. "They're going to land in the emergency hanger!"

* * *

_Stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid-_ Greeto was not enjoying this job at all. _Stupid screwed up force sensitive and his stupid screwed up plan and that stupid stubborn clone and this whole stupid-_

-"This is CD-323 of the star destroyer 'resolute' please-"-

"Shut up!" Greeto hit a button on the dashboard successfully silencing the transmission. This was the worst plan he'd ever heard! But unfortunately… he needed the money… badly.

The rodian focused on piloting the starship.

* * *

A small smirk grew on Hevy's lips as general Kenobi exited the interrogation room.

_**Plant the seed's of uncertainty, and it will uproot all others. **_

_Now I get to kill him? _Hevy couldn't hide the hopeful smile forming on his face.

_**Soon. **_Hevy sighed in disappointment. _**First we must get to him correct? **_

The smile returned and Hevy's chocolate brown eyes lit up with the possibility's he slowly raised his hands into the air.

_Yes sir._

* * *

_This is bad this is really, really bad. _Echo grabbed a hold of Choppers shoulder and pulled him away from the corner, just as general Kenobi walked past.

"Phwoar it Echo!" Chopper swore under his breath. "I could have-"

"We got bigger problems." Echo hissed pulling his brother around the corner and hurrying down the hall toward the ships emergency hanger. "If we hurry we might be able to catch him."

"What are you talking about?" Chopper didn't really expect an answer though; instead he followed Echo through the hallways hoping to the force that his brother knew what he was doing.

* * *

Jester held his blaster tightly against his chest. He didn't move his head, but followed General Kenobi with his eyes until the Jedi could no longer be seen in his line of vision.

_The whole ships gone to daryam. _Jester had been ordered to act as extra guard detail for the ship brig. Now he along with 5 other troopers, stood guard outside of there _former _captains holding cell. _Why would he do this? _Jester still couldn't wrap his head around the idea that _the_ captain Rex had become a turncoat.

It was unthinkable,

_Like the sergeants betrayal? _Jester frowned behind the safety of his helmet. Slick's betrayal hadn't really been much of a surprise, at least not for him. He'd known Slick longer than the others, he'd known about the mans hatred for the senate, the republic, the Jedi.

They were hatch mates, practically of the same jar. Of course he'd known. _No, not like Slick, not at all. _

And then it happened.

A near defining clap filled the hall's as the red/purple energy shield holding the captain in exploded outwards shattering like glass before dissolving completely in the air.

His ears were ringing, he couldn't think.

Jester acted on instinct, raising his blaster toward the now open cell. Out of the corner of his eye Jester could see the other guards doing the same.

The Captain stood in the now smoking entryway, a small grin plastered on his face.

"Freeze!" Rex ignored the order entirely; shooting forward with speed Jester had thought only Jedi capable of. He knocked the first guard into a bulkhead, grabbing his gun and shooting another man in the leg, he raised his gun and fired at the others. Catching one in the arm and another in the shoulder, before he turned and took off in the direction of the emergency hanger.

_Kriff. _Jester took off after him; the only other uninjured trooper close on his heals. Jester lifted his COM to his lips shouting frantically into it.

"Commander we have a situation!"

* * *

Cody examined the man in front of him coldly. The last time he'd seen Gus was during the debriefing directly following Slicks betrayal.

It was almost scary how much the sergeant had changed.

Gus' hair had been allowed to grow out, now past military regulation and looking like he hadn't washed it in quite a wile. An uneven stubble had formed on his face, as though he had went to shave it one day and stopped half way through. Dark bags hung under his eyes and his entire face was sunken as though he hadn't eaten in at least a few days. The small round drops of mostly dried blood on the troopers thy plat causing an emotion to form inside of the commander that he couldn't quite identify.

But his behavior was the worst of it. The sergeant's eyes darted around the room, a crazy, fearful glint in them as he checked over his shoulder every couple of minutes. His leg was bouncing up and down unconsciously and his finger taped against his thy plating with a distinctive, _clink. _

He looked as though he expected someone to try and kill him any moment.

And what the sergeant had told him made no sense at all.

Gus had spent the last 10 minutes rambling on about something that Cody couldn't even understand. It was insane. Or rather _he _was insane.

And the commander knew that if something weren't done someone would be killed because of it. It shocked Cody that no one had kriffing _noticed _the mans deterioration.

But then again Rex was a traitor, and it made perfect sense for a turn coat to leave a clearly deficient man in a position of power.

_His goal was to create kayos. And kayos he created. _

-"Commander we have a situation!"- The sound of a brothers voice crackling over the COM broke the silence Cody and Gus had been sitting in. the sergeant seemed not to notice at all. –"Sir the prisoner has broken out of his cell he's headed down corridor b7."-

No more than a millisecond later Cody's COM crackled again. The same voice but a different brother.

-"Sir we have an unauthorized landing in progress, emergency hanger B. What are your orders sir?"-

_osik _Cody activated the open COM channel speaking to every man on the ship.

"All available men report to Emergency hanger B, we have a code 535 in progress. Commander out." Cody stood quickly, jamming his helmet on his head; Gus seemed to take notice of this. Standing to follow. Cody stopped him. "Stay here until you receive orders to the contrary."

* * *

Ahsoka felt herself swimming in an ocean of biter anger and betrayal.

_How could he?_ The young troguta sat cross-legged on her bed, trying to fight off the barrage of emotions. She remembered the code.

There is no emotion, there is peace.

But it was a lie. Ahsoka had learned that biter truth the first time she fought, the first time she'd been forced to watch her men die around her. There would always be emotion. And in this war there was no peace.

She had thought she could have peace with Rex.

Oh how wrong she had been.

Mhi solus tome, mhi solus dar'tome, mhi me'dinui an, mhi ba'juri verde.

He had spoken those words to her, it had been a PROMISE a vow, one that would never- SHOULD never have been broken.

And she had answered him, speaking in the tongue of her ancestors, just as he had spoken in his.

Kami ay ang isa kung namin sama-sama o hiwalay, namin ibahagi ang lahat kami ay itaas ang ating mga anak ng.

She regretted it all now.

_How could he? After everything I've given up for him? The aruetii!_

He would be executed; she'd be expected to attend. Could she really bring herself to do that?

Ahsoka's COM link chimed. -"All available men report to Emergency hanger B, we have a code 535 in progress. Commander out."-

The togrutan wasn't as familiar with military protocol as she should have been, but she recognized the designation for an escaping prisoner. Ahsoka reached out her hand, calling her light saber to her with the force and grabbing it mid air. Taking off out of the room.

One way or the other she would get answers. Rex would not escape her wrath so easily.

* * *

**i was originally going to include a bit more... but i decided to cut it off here *evil laugh*apologies for any confusion but all will become clear with time i promise. :D hopfully i'll get another update done soon, until then...**

**REVIEW. **


	16. Chapter 16

**Would you believe I dug this up, worked on it for a half hour and now I'm posting it? **

**Ya… I don't either.**

**I'm bord ok.**

**And I gotta study for finals.**

**And I REALLY needed to update something…**

**And despite the fact that this isn't nearly as long or inclusive as I had been planning. I'm proad of it and it's decent. **

**Enjoy :)**

Hevy almost laughed for joy.

He was so close. So close to his goals he could almost touch them, they where more tangible than the unfamiliar armor on his body, more real than the floor he barley touched as he ran on force lightened feet.

_**When you reach him… you may kill him.**_

_Thank you sir. _Hevy didn't ask the questions that where running through his mind, knowing that he could see them all to well.

_**It is necessary to destroy his reputation… all will become clear in time. **_

The trooper nodded, rounding a corner and increasing his speed, just barley sliding between the bulkhead doors as they shut with a load clunk behind him. He could hear, with heightened senses, the angry shouts of the two brothers who had been chasing him.

"It's about freking time!" the rodian he had hired cursed at him, standing on the exit ramp of their stolen ship. "This information better be worth it!"

_**Oh, it's worth it.**_

Hevy grinned to himself and started towards the transport.

The click of a blaster safety being removed hit his ears, and Hevys shoulders rouse visibly.

"Not one move traitor."

Hevy tightened when the familiar voice hit his ears, so much like his own, yet so different, and in its difference, familiarity.

He couldn't remember.

_**They will keep you from your kill. **_

Hevy turned slowly to face the two troopers standing at the end of the landing pad, helmets pulled over their heads, blasters aimed for his heart.

_**They'd never shoot their captain. **_

_No sir. _He agreed silently, taking a careful step backwards.

"I said not. To. Move." The trooper with blue decorating his armor warned him quietly, that same, familiar voice taunting him as the memory remained just out of his reach.

"I don't think so trooper." He spoke offhandedly, taking another step backwards, prompting the two men to step closer to him, not lowering their blasters.

"Frek!" Jester cursed under his breath and he ran to the doors control panel, the other trooper with him following to try and help get it open.

Only pilots and technicians had the codes for the secondary fight deck.

Damn.

"We'll have to splice it." he moved to remove the necessary tools from his belt, but the hum of a lightsaber blade stopped him.

The hum was quickly replaced by the screeching cry of lightsaber plasma meeting metal and he turned his head quickly to see Commander Tano, teeth gritted hard, driving her weapon through the locked metal door. If that look in her eyes was anything to go by…

Jester was very, very glad he wasn't the traitor.

"Step away from the transport Rex." It was the other trooper speaking now, his voice gruff and low, armor undecorated.

"Let me think… no." Hevy gave them a sickly sweet smile, taking another step back towards the ships loading ramp. "Go back and prep the ship fish face."

Greeto glared at him, eying the two men warily.

"Do it and we'll open fire." It was the first trooper talking again, the one in decorated armor, his voice…

Greeto turned pale (if such a thing was possible for rodians) and shot Hevy a murderous look.

"Damn force sensitive! I should of known this wasn't goanna work!" Greeto growled at him.

the troopers tensed.

_**Idiotic moron! **_

_What should I do sir?_

_**Wait you idiot! Look at the clones!**_

Hevy did as he was told turning his eyes back to the two troopers with their blasters aimed for his heart.

_Sir I don't-_

His consciousness was ripped forward violently, shoving him head first into the two men's emotions.

Betrayal, confusion, nervousness, uncertainty…

_What does it mean, sir? _

_**This could work to our advantage... **_

The sound of hot plasma meeting metal hit Hevy's sensitive ears and his eyes shot to the door, narrowing instantly on the magma like substance slowly dripping down the bulkhead.

_Frek. _

_**Move soldier. **_

_But sir-_

Whatever was sawing through the door was making startling progress, and he could clearly feel the raw, angry emotions coming from the other side.

Inspiration struck him like a smack in the face.

_I have an idea sir._

_**Make it quick.**_

Oh god he was getting impatient… Hevy swallowed hard.

_Yes sir._

Jester fell into place with the other trooper behind Comander Tano, blaster aimed at the soon to be opened passage way.

_Just a few more seconds… Just a few more seconds…_

The blast door was sent careening forward with the jerk of the padawans hand, flying through the air like paper and hitting the floor with a crash that rattled his eardrums and teeth.

He instantly moved to follow Tano as the girl launched herself through the opening, both her light-sabers bared and a killer look in her normally smiling blue eyes.

There was a blur of movement from the captain when Chopper herd the blast doors crash to the ground.

The man shot forward, with speed he'd previously thought only a Jedi capable off, wrapping his arm around Echo's throat before the trooper could even reacts.

Stunning, considering Echo's 'abilities'.

Chopper moved his aim from the man's chest, now blocked by Echo's body, turning the barrel of his blaster to the traitors face instead. He snarled at him behind his helmet.

"Let him go Rex." Chopper didn't turn at the words, but recognized them as belonging to his commander.

Maybe Echo had, had it wrong. Maybe this… traitor really was their captain. If a Jedi couldn't see any difference…

"No." Chopper watched as Rex's grip tightened around Echo's throat, causing the decorated trooper to fight all the harder against him, gasping for air.

"He's coming with me." The Captain tilted his head to the side, his voice finalizing. "As insurance."

Chopper tightened his grip on the blaster in his hands, narrowing his sights so he was sure he'd get a clear shot at the Captains head, and over his shoulder, he could hear other blasters, two, doing the same.

Not Rex.

Not Rex, not Rex, _not Rex._

It wasn't him.

Ahsoka tightened her grip on the lightsabers in her hand, teeth gritting hard.

This man wasn't Rex.

Everything was different, the way he talked, the way he moved… and his eyes…

Not Rex.

The padawan screamed in rage, charging forward with both lightsabers burning and a vicious look on her tanned face.

This man, whoever he was-

how dare he?

How dare he try to kill her master?

How dare he sneak aboard there ship?

How _dare_ he impersonate her pasija, her love, her cyar'ika?

How. Dare. _He?_

Not-Rex's hand shot forward and it felt as though a racor had slammed full force into her body, sending her tumbling backwards like a leaf, sending crates and troopers alike flying, sending the hug hunk of slag she had carved from the door sailing through the air once again, hard and fast so she barley landed in time to duck, her eyes widening as it sailed over her head and she remembered who was standing behind her.

Troopers.

Jester felt something slam into his body, knocking the blaster from his hand. He felt his feet leave the ground. And he _defiantly _felt when his back slammed into the wall, a sickening crack filling his ears, making him instantly sure he'd broken a rib.

In his peripheral vision, he could see the other trooper next to him, his helmet knocked off his head and a dazed look in his eyes.

He felt- rather than saw- the slag flying towards them, his adrenaline fueled mind causing everything to run in slow motion. He watched as it sailed over the commander's head, continuing on its direct path for himself and the unnamed trooper beside him.

They where going to die.

Jester didn't think. He didn't think about consequences, he didn't think about what his actions would result in. Didn't think about Slick, or his squad, or Kaminoans cutting him open to see what made him tick.

His hands slammed outward, open palmed, eyes squeezed shut and a splintering headache taking up residence in his mind as he felt the entire wait of the huge object slam into his brain, rather than his body.

The slag hung in the air for a second- maybe two, suspended only by slow magnetic pulse wafting off of Jesters fingers and filling the air.

It crashed to the ground a second later, the troopers body slumping forward as a wave of exhaustion filled his mind and muscles for the force of what he'd just done.

His eyes came up when realization of it struck him, shooting around the room with razor like speed.

The commander hadn't seen, she was to focused on the traitor and his hostage- Echo, neither of whom where looking at him. Chopper hadn't seen…

Jester's eyes moved slowly, ever so slowly, to the unnamed trooper propped up against the wall next to him.

Amber brown met shocked amber brown and one thought ran through Jesters mind.

_Frek._

"Move it fish face!"

Echo felt the arm around his throat tighten as he was dragged up the ramp of the ship. The man holding him taking advantage of the distraction.

He gasped for air, trying to focus on what was happening behind him.

The commander was on the ground, her leg bent at an odd angle. She'd been caught off guard, hadn't thought such an attack possible, hadn't sensed it, her Jedi quick reflexes had done nothing to break her fall. But Chopper, by some miracle, had landed right.

And at that moment the scared trooper was charging towards him, as fast as his legs could possibly carry him.

Echo didn't understand.

Until he saw the exit ramp beneath his feet closing, the man holding him pulling on his body one last time to drag him into the ship.

_Osik. _

Choppers hands caught the edge of the platform. Hard, trained muscle pulling him upwards and he rolled down the platform just as it clanked shut, nearly crushing his arm between the steal slates.

Amber brown collided with the amber brown of his 'captains' eyes. And for a split second nobody moved.

The Chopper lunged.

the ship exploded into hyperspace, and throughout the resolute, the only sound that could be heard was the angry, animalistic shriek of their Jedi commander.

**Review please :D**


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